Santa may have to outsource: his unlicensed sweatshop is built on thin ice and temperatures are rising. This year will probably end up being the hottest in the modern climate record. Nowhere is that more apparent than the North Pole, where temperatures have stubbornly refused to subside much from record summer highs, even as the sun finally dips below the horizon for the rest of the year and polar night takes hold:
Mark Serreze, who heads the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., agrees that something odd is going on. Not only are air temperatures unusually warm, but water temperatures are as well. “There are some areas in the Arctic Ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now,” Serreze said. “It’s pretty crazy.” ... What’s happening, he explains, is sort of a “double whammy.” On the one hand, there is a “very warm underlying ocean” due to the lack of sea ice forming above it. But, at the same time, kinks in the jet stream have allowed warm air to flow northward and frigid Arctic air to descend over Siberia.
Arctic summer ice was already near a record low. Now the annual refreezing that begins every Fall is way behind, too. The ice has been steadily thinning and shrinking since accurate measurements began in the late 70s. It’s an easy inference that as the northern cryosphere weakens and gets smaller, the cap of frigid air above it will follow suit. How that actually manifests itself as the Arctic gives up the ghost is unclear. But early indications are it will wobble and wallow, dragging warmer air behind it, bringing freakishly high temperatures to some northern climates interspersed with ferocious cold snaps, as it temporarily settles in over Siberia one year or Canada the next.
The climate is changing before our lying eyes. No word yet if moving Santa’s workshop to more stable ground south of any borders will be vetoed by Donald Trump.