NOAA today announced the release of the agency’s 15th Arctic Report Card, which provides annual updates on surface air temperature, terrestrial snow cover, the Greenland ice sheet, sea ice, sea surface temperature, Arctic ocean primary productivity, and tundra greenness.
Findings include the second-warmest land-surface air temperature on record, the second-lowest Arctic minimum sea ice extent on record, and a rebound in Pacific Arctic bowhead whales.
In announcing the results, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Timothy Gallaudet said that “[o]ur ability to meet the challenges and opportunities of an Arctic region in transition depends on how well we can observe and predict the pace and scale of these changes.”
