Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of 'winter being redefined'

[Brenda]

From October 2024 to September 2025, temperatures across the entire Arctic region were the hottest in 125 years of modern record keeping, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said, with the last 10 years being the 10 warmest on record in the Arctic.

The Arctic is heating up as much as four times as quickly as the global average, due to the burning of fossil fuels, and this extra heat is warping the world’s refrigerator – a region that acts as a key climate regulator for the rest of the planet.

“There’s been a steady decline in sea ice and unfortunately we are seeing rain now even in winter,” said Druckenmiller. “We are seeing changes in the heart of winter, when we expect the Arctic to be cold. The whole concept of winter is being redefined in the Arctic.”

These changes are acutely felt by people and wildlife in the Arctic – rain falling on to snow can freeze into a barrier that makes it harder for animals to forage for food, while also making for more slippery, hazardous conditions for people traveling by road. The retreat of glaciers can also cause potentially dangerous flooding, as seen in Juneau, Alaska, this year.

Oh, don't mind me. Just trying to alert people to how fucking bad the climate crisis is. A situation that will still be here affecting all of us even once he's dead and hopefully the rest of his admin is in jail.

It's worse than you think and every single TV channel is joking about it or dismissing it or downplaying it.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/16/artic-record-heat-shrunken-sea-ice-report

[markodochartaigh]

1. The Arctic and the Antarctic are warming faster than lower latitudes.

The jet streams are powered in part by the differential between the temperatures at different latitudes. When the temperatures are closer because the polar region is warming more quickly the jet streams slow. When the jet streams slow they tend to wobble and loop. These wobbling loops bring cold polar air further south and warm temperate air further north. Warm air flowing north causes melting of ice and permafrost. Cold air flowing south causes problems for agriculture, killing fruit blossoms and tender young vegetation.