Facts

• On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the 16th annual Arctic Report Card, which examined the region's "vital signs" between October 2021 and September 2022. The report highlights the numerous ways climate change continues to warm the Arctic faster than the rest of Earth.^[1]
• According to the report, the average surface air temperature of the once reliably-frozen landscape was the sixth warmest recorded since 1900 — the past seven years collectively being the warmest on record. The increased temperatures, the report says, are causing shifting seasons and unpredictable disturbances.^[2]
• The publication also found that, as the planet warms, the Arctic receives more rainfall in place of snow, thereby thinning the river and lake ice necessary for snowmobile travel. Consequently, indigenous communities and reindeer face life-threatening challenges in their everyday lives.^[3]
• Moreover, the changing Arctic climate is greatly distressing sea birds, causing many species to die at higher-than-expected rates. Hundreds of dead birds have been found to be emaciated, signaling that starvation due to climate-linked ecosystem shifts is fuelling their untimely deaths.^[4]
• The report also details how the region is more sensitive to rapid climate change. As per the findings, only a few parts of the world experience "extreme seasonal shifts in temperature, land and ocean cover, ecological processes, and wildlife movement and behaviour [sic] as the Arctic."^[5]
• As humans continue to release planet-heating gases into the Earth's atmosphere, researchers say the Arctic will continue to lose its ability to tackle climate change. "The time is now — the Arctic really is an example for the rest of the world on the pace of change and how far-reaching implications can be," Matthew Druckenmiller, researcher and lead editor of the 2022 Arctic Report Card, warned.^[1]