WASHINGTON — New observations this year about snow, ice and temperatures support the conclusion that the Arctic is unlikely to return to the conditions known in the 20th century — and that’s likely to affect the weather in the United States.
That was this year’s key message in the annual update of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic report card, released Thursday. The key points, a video and links to scientific reports by 69 scientists from eight countries are available from NOAA online at .
Higher air temperatures melt snow and ice, leaving the ocean and land darker, and they then absorb more solar energy, causing more heating and melting. Usually, cold air is bottled up in the Arctic, but this year the cold was blown south.
“As we lose more sea ice, we’ll probably see more of that,” said Jim Overland, an oceanographer with NOAA in Seattle. McClatchy Newspapers
