38℃ record Arctic temperature confirmed, others likely to follow: WMO

Worryingly, the somesthesia speechmaking taken past June successful the Siberian municipality of Verkhoyansk – which is located 115 kilometres northbound of the Arctic Circle - is “just 1 of a series” of perchance record-breaking observations from astir the satellite successful 2020, that the bureau is seeking to verify.

“The World Meteorological Organization has this greeting recognized a somesthesia of 38C which is simply a staggering 100.4F successful the Russian municipality of Verkhoyansk,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists successful Geneva. “It was recorded past twelvemonth (on) 20 June 2020 and we person recognized it arsenic a caller Arctic record.”

Describing the somesthesia arsenic “more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic”, WMO explained successful a connection that average temperatures implicit Arctic Siberia reached 10C supra mean for overmuch of past summer.

Devastating summertime months

“If you formed your caput backmost to past year, you volition callback determination was an exceptional, prolonged Siberian heatwave, arsenic a effect of this heatwave we saw devastating and precise wide Siberian fires and we saw monolithic Arctic oversea crystal nonaccomplishment astatine the extremity of the summertime season,” Ms. Nullis said.

The furnace-like conditions besides contributed to 2020 becoming 1 of the 3 warmest years connected record, the WMO spokesperson explained, adding that the Siberian heatwave “would person been astir intolerable without clime change”.

In effect to the grounds Arctic heatwave, the UN bureau besides created a caller class for grounds temperatures. In WMO’s Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes, the caller class is listed arsenic “highest recorded somesthesia astatine oregon northbound of 66.5⁰, the Arctic Circle”.

Artic warming fast

While WMO has often warned that the Arctic is 1 of the fastest warming parts of the world, warming “more than doubly arsenic accelerated arsenic the planetary average”, Ms. Nullis underscored that clime alteration has besides pushed up temperatures elsewhere, which the UN bureau is engaged verifying.

These see a caller precocious successful the Antarctic continent of 18.3C that was recorded astatine the Argentinian base, Esperanza.

WMO investigators are besides seeking to verify somesthesia readings of 54.4C recorded successful some 2020 and 2021 successful the world’s hottest place, Death Valley successful California.

In addition, they are besides assessing a caller reported European somesthesia grounds of 48.8C successful the Italian land of Sicily this summer. 

“The WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes has ne'er had truthful galore ongoing simultaneous investigations,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri  Taalas, successful a statement.