Science Source

Increasing frequency and duration of Arctic winter warming events

States that during the last three winter seasons, extreme warming events (associated with temperatures near or above 0°C, lasting 1-3 days) were observed over sea ice in the central Arctic Ocean
States that typically temperatures in the Arctic at this time of year are below −30°C
Studies past temperature observations in the Arctic to investigate how common winter warming events are
Uses time temperature observations from expeditions such as Fram (1893–1896) and manned Soviet North Pole drifting ice stations from 1937 to 1991
Records show that winter warming events have been observed over most of the Arctic Ocean
Records show that winter time temperatures above −5°C were directly observed approximately once every 3 years in the central Arctic Ocean between 1954 and 2010
Finds that, while observations of winter warming events date back to 1896, there has been an increasing number of winter warming events in recent years