(Washington) The summer of 2023 was the hottest ever recorded in the Arctic, according to a reference American report, which paints an alarming picture of this region of the world, particularly subject to the effects of global warming.
This annual document, published Tuesday by the American Atmospheric and Oceanic Agency (NOAA), highlights in particular the scale of the record fires which hit Canada during the summer, and the continued melting of the Greenland ice cap.
Last year (October 2022 to September 2023) was the sixth warmest since 1900 in the Arctic. But summer (July to September) broke a record there, with an average temperature of 6.4°C.
“The overarching message of this year’s report is that it is time to act,” Rick Spinrad, head of NOAA, said in a statement.
“As a nation and a global community, we must significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving these changes,” he added.
At the same time in Dubai, the negotiations for COP28, the annual United Nations climate conference, faced blockage from certain oil-producing countries to include, in a final agreement text, an objective of phasing out fossil fuels.
Overall, 2023 will be the hottest year in history, Europe’s Copernicus Service predicted earlier this month.
Devastating fires
The Arctic is affected by a phenomenon called “Arctic amplification”, which means that this region is warming faster than the mid-latitudes.
More than 80 experts from 13 countries contributed to this report, published annually for 18 years.
They focused on the changes observed in precipitation, which was higher than normal on average, but with significant regional differences.
Thus, the summer was abnormally dry in the north of the American continent, fueling the devastating fires observed in Canada. These caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and intense air pollution.
Concerning Greenland, despite an above-average snow accumulation during the winter, the mass of the ice sheet continued to decrease – although less than in other years.
The report notes that a station at the highest point of the ice sheet reached a temperature of 0.4°C on June 26, 2023, experiencing melting for only the fifth time since its observations began 34 years ago .
The melting of Greenland is contributing to sea level rise, and thus has repercussions well beyond the Arctic.