The Arctic region is melting faster than ever and the dire consequences are spreading worldwide, an international team of scientists warned Tuesday with the release of a closely watched annual assessment.
Dubbed the Arctic Report Card, the wide-ranging report published by NOAA pinpoints an interconnected range of problems that start with a warming planet and lead to rising sea levels, rust-colored Alaskan rivers, Greenland’s shrinking ice sheet and more.
“The Arctic continues to warm faster than the global average, with the 10 years that comprise the last decade marking the 10 warmest years on record,” said Steve Thur, NOAA’s assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research and the agency’s acting chief scientist.
Thur joined a panel in New Orleans in unveiling the 20th annual version of the Arctic study, which was compiled by 112 authors from 13 countries, at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The report’s many data citations all point in the same gloomy direction.
