{"id":17044,"date":"2016-11-21T13:51:38","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T19:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/?p=17044"},"modified":"2016-11-23T11:09:34","modified_gmt":"2016-11-23T17:09:34","slug":"record-temperatures-in-north-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/2016\/11\/21\/record-temperatures-in-north-pole\/","title":{"rendered":"Record Temperatures in North Pole"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 2016 on track to becoming the warmest year on record, the North Pole is currently experiencing a spike in record temperatures.<\/p>\n

This change in the weather comes during an unusual time of the year, when the Arctic is supposed to be in a phase of freezing throughout fall and winter, with temperatures in the region dropping for polar night.<\/p>\n

However, this hasn\u2019t been the case, as researchers have reported that the temperature in the Arctic is presently an astounding 36 \u00b0F warmer than normal. \u00a0Meteorologist Richard James, the author of an Alaskan weather blog, notes \u201cSo far the lowest daily high temperature this season is 22\u00b0F [\u20135.6\u00b0C], which shows a remarkable absence of cold\u2026 The most similar year in the past was 1998, when the coldest day through mid-November had a high temperature of 15\u00b0F [\u20139.5\u00b0C].\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This

This figure, from atmospheric scientist Zack Labe, shows the mean temperature for the Arctic area above the 80th north parallel.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jennifer Francis, an Arctic specialist, explains the North Pole\u2019s higher temperature as a result of many related factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arctic warmth is the result of a combination of record-low sea-ice extend for this time of year, probably very thin ice, and plenty of warm\/moist air from lower latitudes being driven northward by a very wavy jet stream,\u201d she tells The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

\"The

The figure by meteorologist Eric Holthaus measures the global sea ice area, with this year\u2019s levels in stark contrast to the previous trends.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Climatologists have also indicated that the record temperatures are increasing the rate at which the Arctic\u2019s ice caps are melting. \u201cDespite onset of #PolarNight, temperatures near #NorthPole increasing,\u201d tweeted Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. \u201cExtraordinary situation right now in #Arctic, w\/record low #seaice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just the air temperatures in the Arctic that are much higher this season, either. Water temperatures in the region have also been warmer than usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some areas in the Arctic Ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now,\u201d says Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serreze believes that there are two reasons for the increase in water temperature. One, he explains, is due to the \u201cvery warm underlying ocean\u201d as a result of the absence of sea ice above the surface of the water. Serreze also notes some problems with the jet stream, which allows the warmer air to flow toward the North Pole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sea ice is at a record low right now, for this time of year, that\u2019s one thing,\u201d Serreze states. \u201cAnd why it\u2019s so low \u2014 again, there\u2019s so much heat in the upper ocean in these ice-free areas, the ice just can\u2019t form right now. The ocean\u2019s just got to get rid of this heat somehow, and it\u2019s having a hard time doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changing climate isn\u2019t just restricted to the North Pole, either; the Arctic\u2019s weather impacts the rest of the world as well, specifically North America, Asia, and Europe. During the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, arctic cold continually spills out into the continents within the polar vortex, an area of low pressure and cold air near the North Pole, and any change in the polar vortex would mean a change in the prevalence of winter storms during the season.<\/p>\n

With the record-breaking sea ice levels and temperature, it is not yet certain if the recent weather trends will continue in the Arctic. Nevertheless, researchers will be keeping a close eye on this situation in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With 2016 on track to becoming the warmest year on record, the North Pole is currently experiencing a spike in record temperatures. This change in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":329,"featured_media":17047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2522],"coauthors":[2627],"class_list":["post-17044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-worldnews","tag-climate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17044"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17066,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17044\/revisions\/17066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17044"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}