20°C North Pole temperature rise rings alarm bells

The North Pole is recording temperatures 20 degrees C (36 degrees Fahrenheit) above average, alongside a record low extent of sea ice for October, sending climate change alarm bells ringing around the world.

It is polar night in the region now, when night lasts for more than 24 hours and the Arctic is supposed to get super-cold. October, in fact, is the first full month when sea ice is supposed to grow. Instead, the ice area is 28.5% below the 1981-2010 average, the smallest extent since records began to be maintained in 1979. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared this October the third warmest on record behind 2014 and 2015.

The Arctic is the “canary in the coal mine“ for global warning, NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said.


NOAA meteorologists said the Arctic has been unusually warm for a long period of time.Parts of Greenland, including the top of Greenland's ice sheet, were over 7 degrees Celsius warmer than average last month. There has been a “meteoric rise in October temperatures on Alaska's north slope," said Rick Thoman, NOAA 's climate science and services manager in Alaska.