Warmest Arctic summer on record is evidence of accelerating climate crisis, says NOAA

The Arctic region is heating up faster than any other part of the world, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s 2023 Arctic Report Card.

Summer surface air temperatures during 2023 were the warmest ever observed in the Arctic, while the highest point on Greenland’s ice sheet experienced melting for only the fifth time in the 34 years for which records are available.

Overall, it was the Arctic’s sixth-warmest year on record and its warmest ever summer. The extent of the sea ice continued to decline, with 17 September, 2023 registering as the lowest on record.

“The overriding message from this year’s report card is that the time for action is now,” said Rick Spinrad, PhD, NOAA administrator. NOAA is part of the federal government.

The annual Arctic Report Card, now in its 18th year, is the work of 82 authors from 13 countries.

The average surface air temperature in the Arctic for all of 2023 was the sixth warmest since 1900 at -7 C. The summer Arctic average temperature was the warmest on record at 6.4 C.

Data shows that since 1940, annual average temperatures have risen 0.25 C per decade and average summer temperatures have risen 0.17 C also per decade.

The extent of sea ice continues to decline, with the 17 lowest Arctic sea ice extents on record occurring during the last 17 years. This year’s sea ice extent was the sixth lowest in the satellite record, which began in 1979, with older, thicker multi-year ice far less than in the 1980s.

Mean sea surface temperatures in August 2023 were 5-7C warmer than the 1991-2020 August mean values in the Barents, Kara, Laptev and Beaufort seas. Unusually cool August temperatures were observed in Baffin Bay, Greenland Sea and parts of the Chukchi Sea.

August mean sea surface temperatures showed warming trends for the period from 1982 to 2023 in areas of the Arctic Ocean that are ice free in August, with mean sea surface temperature increases of nearly 0.5C per decade.

Arctic Ocean regions, except for the Canadian Archipelago, Chukchi and Beaufort seas, continue to show increased ocean phytoplankton blooms, or primary productivity, with the largest percentage increases in Eurasian Arctic and Barents Sea.

North American snow cover set a record low in May 2023, while snow accumulation during the 2022-2023 winter was above average across both North America and Eurasia.

Heavy precipitation broke existing records at various locations across the Arctic, with some variation such as a dry summer in northern Canada, contributing to record wildfires. Pan-Arctic precipitation was the sixth highest on record, continuing the trend toward a wetter Arctic.

Tundra greenness across the Arctic was the third highest in the 24-year satellite record, a slight increase over 2022. The Arctic continues a trend of increased shrubs, willows and alders where once there was tundra.

Meanwhile, the Greenland Ice Sheet continued to lose mass despite above-average winter snow accumulation. Summit Station, the highest point on the ice sheet, reached a temperature of 0.4 C on June 26, 2023, experiencing melting for only the fifth time in the 34-year record.