A new State of the Climate Report 2023 led by scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society revealed that the Arctic had its fourth warmest year on record last year.
According to scientists, climate change continues to snowball in the Arctic region, including warmer air and sea temperatures, melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, and loss of ice sheets and glaciers. The report shows the Arctic is moving toward a wetter, greener, and less frozen state. The average surface air temperatures for 2023 were the fourth highest since 1900, while the Arctic summer (July-September) was the warmest on record.
In 2023, circumpolar average peak tundra greenness was the third highest in the 24-year satellite record. Tundra greenness was particularly high in the North American tundra, but relatively low in the Eurasian Arctic. Below ground, permafrost temperatures were the highest on record at over 9 of 17 reporting sites across the Arctic.
The seasonal Arctic minimum sea-ice extent, typically reached in September, was the fifth-smallest in the 45-year record. The amount of multiyear ice — ice that survives at least one summer melt season in the Arctic — continued to decline.
As a result of melting sea ice, the Northern Sea Route has become more accessible. In 2023, the route saw 75 ship transits in the 2023 open season, the second-highest number of ships but the highest number of transported cargo.
The report is based on contributions from nearly 600 scientists in 60 countries. It contains comprehensive data on the Earth's climate, weather events, and other environmental factors. This is the 34th issuance of the report.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
