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posted by martyb on Tuesday December 27 2016, @09:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the elves-working-overtime dept.

SoylentNews had a story last month about temperatures in the Arctic that were 20°C (36°F) warmer than usual. That was just a warm up.

Richard James, who holds a doctorate in meteorology, found November produced the most anomalously warm Arctic temperatures of any month on record after analyzing data from 19 weather stations.

In the middle of the month, the temperature averaged over the entire Arctic north of 80 degrees latitude spiked to 36 degrees [Fahrenheit] above normal.

Chicago Tribune

Now, storm activity around Greenland has caused a warm spell in the vicinity of the North Pole, with temperatures 50°F (28°C) higher than usual.

As of the morning of Thursday, December 22 (3 a.m. EST), the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP), operated out of the University of Washington, recorded temperatures from these buoy[s] up to 0°C or slightly higher.

The Weather Network

There was a similar pattern of unusually warm weather in the Arctic in November and December of 2015.

The warm spell [...] marks the second straight December of freakish warmth spreading across the Arctic due to weird weather patterns.

USA Today

additional coverage:


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 28 2016, @10:30AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 28 2016, @10:30AM (#446617) Journal

    Its one thing to lose one's life savings at Vegas gambling on outcomes one does not know. But another to gamble away our home planet.

    Pascal's wager doesn't work. There are more than one possible cataclysmic outcome. Thus, you need to have actual knowledge in order to make good decisions.

    My concern is now the swings of thermal energy.

    Not mine. Wealthy societies are very good at dealing with that sort of thing.

    More water in the air, resulting from higher temperatures, combined with more temperature differential, will release more mechanical shaft work... aka wind ... which I believe will result in more vigorous storms.

    And more heat radiated to space. I think this is the primary error in modern climate modeling.

    I am not all gloom and doom here, though. In the last fifty years, we have made tremendous advances in technology which allow our creature comforts at a much lower cost to our environment. Look at some of those old photos of the beginning of the industrial age and all those smokestacks. I think we are on the right path. I hope we can continue to advance our technology faster than we advance our wants and economy which fulfills those wants.

    Doesn't take much technology advancement to get the developing world up to speed.

  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday December 31 2016, @11:54AM

    by anubi (2828) on Saturday December 31 2016, @11:54AM (#447821) Journal

    Thus, you need to have actual knowledge in order to make good decisions.

    Those have to be some of the truest words ever strung together by anyone. Seems most of us have beliefs, not true knowledge.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]