More frequent extreme weather and climate events are transforming the Arctic, yet resiliency and opportunity lie within diverse partnerships
The Arctic is increasingly warmer, less frozen, and wetter, with regional extremes in weather, climate patterns, and ecosystem responses. Centering locally and internationally-focused partnerships, long-term observations, and equitable climate solutions provides Arctic communities and nations as well as society-at-large with information and mechanisms to cope with a rapidly changing Arctic.
In the air
Average surface air temperatures for the Arctic in the past year were the sixth warmest since 1900.
Summer surface air temperatures were the warmest on record.
Summer high-pressure systems brought warm temperatures, widespread melting, and exceptional rainfall volumes across the Greenland Ice Sheet.
In the ocean
Sea ice extent continues to decline, with the last 17 September extents (2007-23) as the lowest on record. Sea ice extent was 6th lowest in the satellite record, since 1979.
August mean sea surface temperatures show continued warming trends for 1982-2023 in almost all Arctic Ocean regions that are ice-free in August. Mean sea surface temperature over regions between 65° N and 80° N is increasing at a rate of ~0.9°F (~0.5°C) per decade.
Arctic regions, except for the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, and Canadian Archipelago, continue to show increased ocean phytoplankton blooms, or ocean primary productivity, with the largest percent change in the Eurasian Arctic and Barents Sea.
Since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, rising sea levels have inundated terrestrial permafrost surrounding the Arctic Ocean, resulting in nearly 1 million square miles (~2.5 million square km) of subsea permafrost that is at risk of thawing. International research collaboration is needed to address critical questions regarding the extent and current state of subsea permafrost and to estimate the potential release of greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide and methane) as it thaws.
On the land
North American snow cover extent set a record low in May 2023, while snow accumulation during the 2022/23 winter was above average across both North America and Eurasia.
Heavy precipitation events broke existing records at various locations across the Arctic and the Pan-Arctic precipitation for 2022-23 was the sixth highest on record.
On 26 June 2023, Summit Station, Greenland reached 32.7°F (0.4°C) and experienced melt for only the fifth time in its 34-year observational history.
The Greenland Ice Sheet lost roughly 350 trillion pounds (156 ± 22 Gt) of mass from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023 because discharge and melting exceeded accumulation.
The 2023 circumpolar average peak tundra greenness, which is the overall vegetation, including plants, shrubs, and trees taking over grassland and tundra, as measured by satellite, was the third highest in the 24-year record.
In Finland, peatland restoration and rewilding demonstrate a globally relevant climate solution of carbon sinks and point to a need for replication across impacted sites. Rewilding requires partnership, recognition of Indigenous and community rights, and the use of Indigenous knowledge alongside science to succeed and avoid replication of past inequities.
