Alaska set to finish 2019 with record warm year

[webfact]

Alaska set to finish 2019 with record warm year

By Yereth Rosen

 

Winter rains atop of snow create a glaze on roads and parking lots and melt Westchester Lagoon, a popular ice-skating and pond-hockey site in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., December 9, 2019. REUTERS/Yereth Rosen

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm.

 

Wildlife also suffered from the state's chaotic weather, with mass die-offs of seabirds and marine mammals struggling to cope with ecological upheaval.

 

The turmoil is part of a rapid warming pattern in which Alaska - at the leading edge of climate change due to its proximity to the Arctic - is heating at twice the rate of the planet as a whole, researchers say.

 

"Even with the current cold snap, I don't see any way that 2019 is not the warmest year on record," Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center, said in a tweet on Thursday.

 

"Will every year be as warm as this? No. But the escalator is going up," said Rick Thoman, a scientist with the university's Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.

 

Alaska's warmest year on record was 2016, when annual temperatures averaged 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or just over 0 Celsius. That was the first time the benchmark crept above freezing, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

For 2019, the statewide average through November stood at 34.5 degrees, a year-to-date high that tops nearly a century of record-keeping.

 

THE BIG THAW

The spring melt on major rivers came earlier than ever and the uppermost layer of permafrost across the Seward Peninsula was thawed the entire year.

 

Summer temperatures soared to 90 or higher in several locales, including Anchorage, in the midst of a severe drought. Wildfires destroyed homes, triggered evacuations and fouled the region's air quality for weeks.

 

Unusually high ocean temperatures spawned toxic algae blooms in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea.

 

The Arctic coast city of Utqiagvik - the predominantly Alaska Native settlement formerly known as Barrow and the northernmost city in the United States - recorded its most extreme thaw conditions on record. Stretches of the sea coast, once frozen solid by October, had yet to ice over by mid-December.

 

“It's December 20, and we're finally getting some ice on the shore,” said Billy Adams, who posts climate observations to a community network managed by the Arctic Research Center.

 

Vanishing sea ice causes ocean waters to absorb more heat, creating a kind of thermodynamic feedback loop that triggers a cascade of wide-ranging climatic consequences that extend around the globe, Thoman said.

 

In the Bering Sea, where fish populations were dislocated and carcasses of seabirds and seals littered shorelines, the effects of warming are notably acute, Thoman said.

 

The extraordinary conditions of 2019 offer a preview of Alaska's future.

 

“Moving forward, these types of years will be more and more common,” Brettschneider said.

 

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage; Editing by Steve Gorman and Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-27

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[brokenbone]

 

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

Alaska - at the leading edge of climate change due to its proximity to the Arctic - is heating at twice the rate of the planet as a whole, researchers say.

not alaska specific,

everything is heating twice as fast as the rest of the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eaxODT0oA0

 

[Kelsall]

Get the popcorn.

[Skallywag]

50 minutes ago, webfact said:

Alaska - at the leading edge of climate change due to its proximity to the Arctic

There is also Greenland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and Canada with areas north of the Arctic circle.  

How is it Alaska is "at the leading edge of climate change"  and not these other land masses? 

 

[brokenbone]

empirical data show a correlation with measured data,

 and ice cream consumption and urbanization

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/07/06/friday-funny-scottish-record-high-temperature-caused-by-ice-cream-truck/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFPRMV2p5cY&t=236s

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by brokenbone

[rabas]

Equal temperatures for all latitudes!

 

Make the atmosphere great again.

 

[canuckamuck]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Alaska set to finish 2019 with record warm year

I am sure everyone in Alaska is grateful too.

Good for them, they deserve a break.

[mogandave]

6 hours ago, brokenbone said:

 

not alaska specific,

everything is heating twice as fast as the rest of the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eaxODT0oA0

 

How could everything be heating twice as fast as the rest of the world? 
 

Does not “everything” include the rest  of the world? 
 

Am I missing something? Is “Everything” perhaps a city in Alaska? 

[brokenbone]

4 minutes ago, mogandave said:

How could everything be heating twice as fast as the rest of the world? 
 

Does not “everything” include the rest  of the world? 
 

Am I missing something? Is “Everything” perhaps a city in Alaska? 

you need to watch the video to see the humor

[mogandave]

18 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

you need to watch the video to see the humor

Yeah, guess I should have looked at it first. Hilarious.

 

No doubt 97% of the people getting rich (or at least making a living) off global warming agree. 

[sawadee1947]

Well, it's far away from Australia. So it can't be the climate change as PM stated. 

[NotYourBusiness]

I don't know anything about polar bears or global warming. But Susan Crockford has dedicated her life to studying polar bears. And she has been vocal about her research that shows polar bear populations way up north are not in decline, even stable and thriving, despite the images of skinny bears regularly in the news. Her contract at University of Victoria in Canada, where she has worked for fifteen years, has quietly not been renewed. Perhaps her research results don't fit the narrative?

 

 

[alex8912]

9 hours ago, Skallywag said:

There is also Greenland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and Canada with areas north of the Arctic circle.  

How is it Alaska is "at the leading edge of climate change"  and not these other land masses? 

 

Because it’s in the USA silly. 

[sirineou]

9 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

you missed out on the fact that polar bears are thriving

as of late

"polar bears and climate change

Claims that polar bears are thriving or will adapt to climate change are unfounded, says Andrew Derocher. "

". Andrew Derocher is a professor of biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and a longtime scientific advisor to Polar Bears International "

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/separating-fact-from-fiction-polar-bears-and-climate-change/

[Bluespunk]

16 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

you missed out on the fact that polar bears are thriving as of late.

from memory from 6000 polar bears

in the haydays of 200 ppm to 30.000

with 400 ppm co2

Ah, if only it was so simple

 

https://arcticwwf.org/species/polar-bear/population/

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/29/polar-bears-arctic-sea-ice-environment?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Edited December 27, 2019 by Bluespunk

[brokenbone]

9 minutes ago, sirineou said:

"polar bears and climate change

Claims that polar bears are thriving or will adapt to climate change are unfounded, says Andrew Derocher. "

". Andrew Derocher is a professor of biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and a longtime scientific advisor to Polar Bears International "

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/separating-fact-from-fiction-polar-bears-and-climate-change/

its empirical data, they were counted before and they have been counted again, its more of them now.

to state they are dying is not just a gross

exaggeration, its a false statement altogether.

 

furthermore, there was no arctic ice at all

3 million years ago, it is earth natural state, the ice age we live in now is an anomaly in earth history.

and ditto goes for the extremely low co2 levels btw

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by brokenbone

[metisdead]

Posts using trolling memes and the replies have been removed. 

[hotchilli]

On 12/27/2019 at 7:52 AM, webfact said:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm

Good news for all the oil & mineral vultures who are circling waiting for the moment they can get in and plunder a new area!

[brokenbone]

9 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Good news for all the oil & mineral vultures who are circling waiting for the moment they can get in and plunder a new area!

at least try to make a realistic assessment.

the ice was 7 ft 1958 and is 8 ft today,

do you really think 2 meters worth of snow pose any technical challenge at all ?

 

think about it for a couple of seconds before you reply

[hotchilli]

57 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

at least try to make a realistic assessment.

the ice was 7 ft 1958 and is 8 ft today,

do you really think 2 meters worth of snow pose any technical challenge at all ?

 

think about it for a couple of seconds before you reply

China & Russia as well as the USA are poised just waiting for the northern ice melt to allow access by sea, then they'll be into the the region like bees around a honey-pot.. exploiting anything they can find!
And the pickings are by all accounts rich in oil & minerals.

[Skeptic7]

On 12/26/2019 at 10:05 PM, canuckamuck said:

I am sure everyone in Alaska is grateful too.

Good for them, they deserve a break.

No, they're not. The Inuit disagree with your sad attempt at humor Assuming you are a Canuck, seems you might be aware that Canadian Territories are being adversely effected too...regardless of the causes. 

 

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-listen-inuit-climate-change

Edited December 28, 2019 by Skeptic7

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Good news for all the oil & mineral vultures who are circling waiting for the moment they can get in and plunder a new area!

Ah. If only there weren't so many people all wanting to drive cars, fly in aeroplanes, use all the products with oil in them, wouldn't the world be such a better place where there was no need to go looking for new areas to plunder because there was enough in the old ones?

 

Put the blame where it belongs, on people's desire to have more children than the planet can sustain comfortably.

[brokenbone]

10 hours ago, hotchilli said:

China & Russia as well as the USA are poised just waiting for the northern ice melt to allow access by sea, then they'll be into the the region like bees around a honey-pot.. exploiting anything they can find!
And the pickings are by all accounts rich in oil & minerals.

given that we are on schedule for the next glacial period,

i think not

[brokenbone]

9 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

No, they're not. The Inuit disagree with your sad attempt at humor Assuming you are a Canuck, seems you might be aware that Canadian Territories are being adversely effected too...regardless of the causes. 

 

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-listen-inuit-climate-change

i didnt see a single comment from any inuit

in that article, the headline is as misleading as everything else in that article,

just like this topic itself is misleading,

dont you know everywhere is increasing faster then anywhere else ?

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by brokenbone

[Cryingdick]

21 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Good news for all the oil & mineral vultures who are circling waiting for the moment they can get in and plunder a new area!

 

Actually moving heavy machinery over frozen ground is easier. But where there is a will there is a way.

[mogandave]

9 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Actually moving heavy machinery over frozen ground is easier. But where there is a will there is a way.

I think drilling is easier as well, but I’m not sure. 

[bristolboy]

15 hours ago, brokenbone said:

given that we are on schedule for the next glacial period,

i think not

Once again no source for your data. Ashamed of the source?

At any rate for the last 5000 or so years the temperature has been been, on the whole falling very slightly. Until the industrial age. Lately, the rise has accelerated at an unprecedented rate given that planet earth is slowly heading into the next period of glaciation. 

But the next ice age isn't due for thousands of years. You planning on being around that long?   And while Malenkovitch cycles have determined periods of massive glaciation in the past, they're not invincible. So unless something is done, it will be case of into the frying pan instead of the freezer. That is, if humans manage to be around that long and don't moderate their greenhouse gas emitting ways. Ya really got to try and come to grips with the concept of "rate".

Edited December 29, 2019 by bristolboy

[brokenbone]

11 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Once again no source for your data. Ashamed of the source?

At any rate for the last 5000 or so years the temperature has been been, on the whole falling very slightly. Until the industrial age. Lately, the rise has accelerated at an unprecedented rate given that planet earth is slowly heading into the next period of glaciation. 

But the next ice age isn't due for thousands of years. You planning on being around that long?   And while Malenkovitch cycles have determined periods of massive glaciation in the past, they're not invincible. So unless something is done, it will be case of into the frying pan instead of the freezer. That is, if humans manage to be around that long and don't moderate their greenhouse gas emitting ways. Ya really got to try and come to grips with the concept of "rate".

wiki has a graph of the glacial periods

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_glaciation

the heat increase in the 1910-1940

was just as steep and just as long as the 1970-2000 increase.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070404001809/http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/downloads/Challenge_chapter2.pdf

it seem we got lucky with milankovitch cycle intensity

this time around, but even just a single kilometer

of ice on my home country is <deleted>ty prospect,

even if im not around

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztninkgZ0ws

compared to the good ole days before earth plummeted

into an eternal glacial-interglacial ice age,

no amount of co2 can get even remotely close to make it

as warm & comfy as earth normal temperature,

and beside, we are as of now heading for another minor

ice age, its estimated to be upon us within 50 years

[rabas]

On 12/28/2019 at 6:27 PM, hotchilli said:

China & Russia as well as the USA are poised just waiting for the northern ice melt to allow access by sea, then they'll be into the the region like bees around a honey-pot.. exploiting anything they can find!
And the pickings are by all accounts rich in oil & minerals.

And the pickings are by all accounts rich in oil & minerals.

 

That's because the entire area used to be warm and full of life for a long, long, long, long, very long time. Nice place with tropical palm trees and crocodiles swimming in the Canadian Arctic. 

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/05/160523-climate-change-study-eight-degrees/

[Nyezhov]

Thank god maybe I can stay there longer.