The Conversation – Arctic Report Card 2022: The Arctic is getting rainier and seasons are shifting, with broad disturbances for people, ecosystems and wildlife
“Even in the depth of winter, warmer temperatures are breaking through. The far northern Alaska town of Utqiaġvik hit 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 C) – 8 F above freezing – on Dec. 5, 2022, even though the sun does not breach the horizon from mid-November through mid-January. ”
An article in The Conversation talks about the impacts of the Arctic warming and just how impactful it will be on the lives of residents in this region. People living in Artic rely on cold and frozen conditions to move around and live their lives, and reliability of these cold conditions is quickly diminishing. Precipitation is now coming in the form of rain instead of snow, leading to the collapse of infrastructure and ecosystems.
Furthermore, these warmer conditions are leading to changes in permafrost distribution and any infrastructure built in permafrost regions are at risk. Another factor to consider is that snow acts as an insulator and without it, solar radiation is not reflected. This warms the ground which leads to even further warming in the region. Additionally, the snow season shrinking will increase the risk of wildfires.
“A shrinking snow season is disrupting these critical functions. For example, the June snow cover extent across the Arctic is declining at a rate of nearly 20% per decade, marking a dramatic shift in how the snow season is defined and experienced across the North.”
2022 Sea Ice Extent in September - NOAA Climate.gov
Not only is this destructive to the biodiversity in these regions, but also to the communities who live off the land and have for many years. As ice thins, incidents of people falling through are becoming more common and fatal. Currently, there is much uncertainty about what the impacts of warming will be over the coming years, with only the idea that it will be unpleasant.
Increased precipitation throughout the artic will surely lead to significant changes in regional hydrology. The Canada1Water project should provide some insights into what these changes may look like, and how permafrost distribution will change. This is vital information for communities and land managers to have to ensure that northern communities can plan for the future.
Click here to read the article in The Conversation
“Roads become dangerously icy more often, and communities face greater risk of river flooding events. For Indigenous reindeer herding communities, winter rain can create an impenetrable ice layer that prevents their reindeer from accessing vegetation beneath the snow.”