NOAA: Arctic melting may point to future bad winters

Continued near-record sea-ice loss and higher-than-normal temperatures are melting the Arctic, federal researchers reported Wednesday. And the changes in the Arctic may be setting the stage for a future "climate change paradox" of more intense U.S. winters, they warn, even as the polar cap shrinks.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's "Arctic Report Card" warns that thinning sea ice around the North Pole continues a trend in effect since 2007. Among the findings cited by NOAA:

• Summer sea ice cover was the third lowest extent recorded since satellite measurement began in 1979
• Snow cover lasted the least time since record-keeping began in 1966
• Greenland felt record-setting high temperatures, ice melt and glacier loss

"To quote one of my NOAA colleagues, 'whatever is going to happen in the rest of the world happens first, and to the greatest extent, in the Arctic,'" said NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D, in a statement.

"Beyond affecting the humans and wildlife that call the area home, the Arctic's warmer temperatures and decreases in permafrost, snow cover, glaciers and sea ice also have wide-ranging consequences for the physical and biological systems in other parts of the world."

And the high temperatures in the Arctic may just be a sign of things to come, thanks to global warming flipping winter weather patterns for coming repeats of the heavy snows that hit the U.S.A. this winter.

"While individual weather extreme events cannot be directly linked to larger scale climate changes, recent data analysis and modeling suggest a link between loss of sea ice and a shift to an increased impact from the Arctic on mid-latitude climate," concludes the report.

"With future loss of sea ice, such conditions as winter 2009-2010 could happen more often. Thus we have a potential climate change paradox. Rather than a general warming everywhere, the loss of sea ice and a warmer Arctic can increase the impact of the Arctic on lower latitudes, bringing colder weather to southern locations."

Source:
USA Today, "NOAA: Arctic melting may point to future bad winters", accessed October 22, 2010