每日科技报告 第105期 Arctic Report Card

张立涛

Arctic Report Card: Region Continues to Warm at Unprecedented Rate

The Arctic region, also called the "planet's refrigerator," continues to heat up, affecting local populations and ecosystems as well as weather patterns in the most populated parts of the Northern Hemisphere, according to a team of 69 international scientists.

Wide-spread melt ponds observed by NOAA's North Pole Web cam. (Credit: Image courtesy of NOAA)

The findings were released Oct. 21, 2010 in the Arctic Report Card, a yearly assessment of Arctic conditions.

Among the 2010 highlights:

Greenland is experiencing record-setting high temperatures, ice melt and glacier area loss;

Summer sea ice continues to decline -- the 2009-2010 summer sea ice cover extent was the third lowest since satellite monitoring began in 1979, and sea ice thickness continues to thin. The 2010 minimum is the third lowest recorded since 1979, surpassed only by 2008 and the record low of 2007;

Arctic snow cover duration was at a record minimum since record-keeping began in 1966.

There is also evidence that the effect of higher air temperatures in the Arctic atmosphere in fall is contributing to changes in the atmospheric circulation in both the Arctic and northern mid-latitudes. Winter 2009-2010 showed a link between mid-latitude extreme cold and snowy weather events and changes in the wind patterns of the Arctic, related to a phase of the Arctic Oscillation.

"To quote one of my NOAA colleagues, 'whatever is going to happen in the rest of the world happens first, and to the greatest extent, in the Arctic,'" said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "Beyond affecting the humans and wildlife that call the area home, the Arctic's warmer temperatures and decreases in permafrost, snow cover, glaciers and sea ice also have wide-ranging consequences for the physical and biological systems in other parts of the world. The Arctic is an important driver of climate and weather around the world and serves as a critical feeding and breeding ground that supports globally significant populations of birds, mammals and fish."

In 2006, NOAA's Climate Program Office introduced the annual Arctic Report Card, which established a baseline of conditions at the beginning of the 21st century to monitor the quickly changing conditions in the Arctic. Using a color-coded system of "red" to indicate consistent evidence of warming and "yellow" to show that warming impacts are occurring in many climate indicators and species, the Report Card is updated annually in October and tracks the Arctic atmosphere, sea ice, biology, ocean, land and changes in Greenland.

sj_kirk

1、概述
2、对比往年记录
3、分析原因
4、影响
5、预警机制的建立

chenxinyuan

谢谢楼主~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

moonandwind604

北极地区正以空前速度继续变暖，给北极圈居民、生态系统乃至北半球都造成影响。

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