A new report showed that the Arctic air continues to become warmer at a rate that is twice faster than the rest of the world.
The observation was included in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) latest "Arctic Report Card." The report also looked at the declining solar absorption of the Greenland ice sheet, melting snow and ice and declining population of the polar bears in the region. Researchers believe that all of these were impacts of global warming.
"Arctic warming is setting off changes that affect people and the environment in this fragile region, and has broader effects beyond the Arctic on global security, trade, and climate," Craig McLean, acting assistant administrator for the NOAA Research, said in a press release. "This year's Arctic Report Card shows the importance of international collaboration on long-term observing programs that can provide vital information to inform decisions by citizens, policymakers and industry."
The report was a collaboration of 63 scientists from 13 different countries. Their observation revealed that, globally, cold air has started moving southward while warm air is heading northward to Alaska and northern Europe.
The temperature in Alaska has also increased by 10 degrees Celsius compared to January. Snow melted four weeks earlier than usual compared to the observations for the past 30 years. Martin Jeffries, a scientist with the Office of Naval Research and the lead editor of the report, said that sea ice could disappear across the Arctic in as few as five years or more, USA Today reported.
This year's report focused on the fact that the trend in global warming has been persistent for the past three decades. Scientists believe that this continuous change can directly affect the weather and the population of the polar bears. The number of female polar bears in the Arctic region dropped by 32 percent from 1987 to 2011, according to LiveScience.
The report was presented at the annual American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
