Jul 10, 2017
Increasing frequency and duration of Arctic winter warming events
by
,
Geophysical Research Letters
- 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