Washington: For the second year in a row temperatures in the Arctic will be higher than compared to normal. Mercury levels will measure more than 36 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, an unheard of phenomenon.
According to sciencealert.com the Arctic is currently in the midst of a polar night, where the Sun hardly ever rises and vast, thick ice sheets form. And even though the sea ice, which reached its annual low in September, is forming, the pace is much slower than usual.
“In parts of Arctic Russia, temperatures were 10.8 to 12.6°F above the long-term average,” said Petteri Taalas, the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation. “Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska, and northwest Canada were at least 5.4°F above average,” he added.
According to the Washington Post, computer models projected that on Thursday, three days before Christmas, the temperature near the North Pole will be an astronomical 40-50 degrees warmer-than-normal and approaching 32 degrees, the melting point.
Zachary Labe, a doctoral student researching the Arctic at the University of California-Irvine, said that the lack of ice in this region has allowed ocean temperatures to warm to levels well above normal.
November was 18 degrees warmer than normal in the Arctic, according to the National Snow and Ice Data said.
