The North Pole is an insane 36 degrees warmer than normal as winter descends

Political people in the United States are watching the chaos in Washington in the moment. But some people in the science community are watching the chaos somewhere else — the Arctic.

It’s polar night there now — the sun isn’t rising in much of the Arctic. That’s when the Arctic is supposed to get super-cold, when the sea ice that covers the vast Arctic Ocean is supposed to grow and thicken.

But in fall of 2016 — which has been a zany year for the region, with multiple records set for low levels of monthly sea ice — something is totally off. The Arctic is super-hot, even as a vast area of cold polar air has been displaced over Siberia.

Mark Serreze, who heads the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., agrees that something odd is going on. Not only are air temperatures unusually warm, but water temperatures are as well. “There are some areas in the Arctic Ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now,” Serreze said. “It’s pretty crazy.”

The North Pole is an insane 36 degrees warmer than normal as winter descends

Wow!

36 degrees hotter than usual in the arctic right now?!

I could understand or even expect a few degrees warmer, but 36?! Holy crap!

Any meteorologists out there that can tell us if this is a temporary aberration or if it will remain much warmer than normal in the arctic this winter?

The article also talks about the lack of sea ice at this time of year and how that is contributing to this insane record warmth.

No matter which side of the climate change argument you're on, this can't be good.

well, if all the ice already melted, and we all still don't have a beach in our backyard, maybe it was all hype???

Yeah... that looks not so good.... but look at the purple blop behind the red spot?

Is that the ocean north of Sibiria? From that scale, it would appear that the ocean is 20 degrees COLDER?! That's eqaully as bad isn't it? How long would it take for the currents to mess up completely with a change like that?

a reply to: Riffrafter


That's because the cold air is being forced into Siberia do to a low pressure system. Same thing happened in 2014 only it was north America. The cold air will move back north again just like last time.

PS most of the arctic is still below -4 degrees so its still very cold.

The problem is that the recorded history of temperatures and ice thickness is just a speck when compared to the planet's age, which is currently estimated to be 4.6 billion years old.

For all we know, 36 degrees hotter than 'usual' may very well be normal.

Last spring there were videos out by someone on the jetstream crossing over the equator, and that this mixing of the south and north, if it continued, would result in seasons disappearing, perpetual march like temperatures or something.
Hope that isn't happening.

We're also having a pole shift, not sure how far along that is currently. But that does make temporary pockets of cold appear in various areas as if the magnetic pole doesnt know where to go.

But the article mentioned the jetstream.

a reply to: BlueShaman

maybe so, but it's not normal for us , and that's what is important. we may not be responsible but if it's happening we can't just ignore...

Are you talking Celsius? This is what most of the world understand.

If Fahrenheit, then what is a 36 degree difference. - I make it c. 20 degrees?

a reply to: Riffrafter

This headline and the way it is being reported make this seem sensational. The truth is though that localised arctic storms can mean that temperatures are 30-40 degrees hotter in parts of the arctic than in others.

Where that becomes a worry is if it continues long term rather than just temporary............

I think it is in my back yard too. Flowers are still in bloom, I have roses, plumbago, azaleas, all of them.
And the birds who have usually left by now are still here; they don't seem to be migrating.

Looking back I've used the air conditioner on Halloween many times. But this will be a first for Thanksgiving.

originally posted by: paraphi
Are you talking Celsius? This is what most of the world understand.

If Fahrenheit, then what is a 36 degree difference. - I make it c. 20 degrees?

Yes, I believe the article is using the Fahrenheit scale for the title but it talks Celsius in the body of the article too. It's actually a pretty short read, so if you haven't done so already you might want to click on the link.

originally posted by: Flavian
a reply to: Riffrafter

This headline and the way it is being reported make this seem sensational. The truth is though that localised arctic storms can mean that temperatures are 30-40 degrees hotter in parts of the arctic than in others.

Where that becomes a worry is if it continues long term rather than just temporary............

I hope you're right and it is a temporary aberration.

My brother-in-law is a research meteorologist and I've forwarded the article to him to ask his opinion. He recently went on a trip to Greenland to study things like this on behalf of NASA, so I'm hoping he will be able to give me his take on this.

I'll let everyone know what he says or better yet, I'll see if I can get him to join ATS and let him tell us himself. He's a really smart guy and has been doing this kind of work for 20+ years.

originally posted by: angeldoll
I think it is in my back yard too. Flowers are still in bloom, I have roses, plumbago, azaleas, all of them.
And the birds who have usually left by now are still here; they don't seem to be migrating.

Looking back I've used the air conditioner on Halloween many times. But this will be a first for Thanksgiving.

What part of the country/world are you in?

We are in the middle of a polar shift. It happens every 750,000,000 years or so and the last one was 780,000,000 thousand years ago, so we are definetly due for another one. Many people feared a polar shift would be a quick capsizing motion wich would basically destroy everything but as it turns out Polar shifts are more gradual maybe as long as a decade for the change to happen. 780k years ago Antarctica was on the equator. Interesting times we live in.

a reply to: angeldoll

same here. it was eighty degrees in Denver two days ago. I still have flowers in my garden blooming. well, until yesterday, we finally got snow! it looks gorgeous right now with the sun shinning.

originally posted by: 191stMIDET
We are in the middle of a polar shift. It happens every 750,000,000 years or so and the last one was 780,000,000 thousand years ago, so we are definetly due for another one. Many people feared a polar shift would be a quick capsizing motion wich would basically destroy everything but as it turns out Polar shifts are more gradual maybe as long as a decade for the change to happen. 780k years ago Antarctica was on the equator. Interesting times we live in.

Honestly, what is more interesting to me is that you seem to confuse 750 million with 750 thousand....right off the bat, to me, you lacked credibility with this sensational statement....anyone who says "due for" or "overdue" to me are sensationalists.

Now, real science and scientists understand that in the meteorological and climatological world there is an old expression "Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get" neither scenario is applicable here as what is needed is paleoclimatology to truly understand what is or is not normal.

In this case, a hyper-active sun combined with the conveyor's desalinization are likely key suspects in the spike (though the sun is now entering into a maunder minimum cycle).

So much needs to be taken into consideration before jumping to the conclusion (as a poster had suggested completely errantly and frankly, we have no control over) that something "must be done". A perfect 'for instance' would be just how much undersea volcanism is affecting sea-surface ice cover.

“A very interesting high temperature and low salinity hole has just been punched in the sea ice … directly above the deep ocean Gakkel Ridge Rift / Fault System,” wrote Kamis in early November. (The event Kamis is referring to took place on October 12, 2015.)
Massive amounts of heat pulsing from the earth
The Gakkel ridge is a gigantic chain of underwater volcanoes snaking 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) beneath the Arctic Ocean from the northern tip of Greenland to Siberia.

Check it out here

In addition, Coriolis tends to keep a decent track of temperature/salinity records.

If you truly want to start grasping the cause/effect of Earths processes, a lot of research needs be done before anyone can make sensationlist claims.

originally posted by: Riffrafter

originally posted by: angeldoll
I think it is in my back yard too. Flowers are still in bloom, I have roses, plumbago, azaleas, all of them.
And the birds who have usually left by now are still here; they don't seem to be migrating.

Looking back I've used the air conditioner on Halloween many times. But this will be a first for Thanksgiving.

What part of the country/world are you in?

Southeast U.S.

nobody cares anymore....you climatologists out there should start helping people adapt to the warming world, because nobody is going to do a damn thing to reverse it. the right-wingers that now will be in power for a long time, don't believe anything you say.....

originally posted by: angeldoll

originally posted by: Riffrafter

originally posted by: angeldoll
I think it is in my back yard too. Flowers are still in bloom, I have roses, plumbago, azaleas, all of them.
And the birds who have usually left by now are still here; they don't seem to be migrating.

Looking back I've used the air conditioner on Halloween many times. But this will be a first for Thanksgiving.

What part of the country/world are you in?

Southeast U.S.

I'm in VA and today's forecast high is 75 degrees. It's beautiful, but...

Supposed to start returning to normal over the next few days.

Until the next "heat wave"...

a reply to: Riffrafter

Can't keep saying that Climate Change is a hoax. Reality is starting to catch up with the deniers.