The Science of Rapid Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic:

Holdren The Earth’s surface north of the Arctic Circle, which includes nearly a third of Alaska, is warming 3-4 times faster than the global average.1 Alaska as a whole is warming twice as fast as the lower 48 states.2 As is true for most of the manifestations of anthropogenic climate change, moreover, the 1 R antanen, Mika et al. [...] The Science of Rapid Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic | Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center | August 2023 1 extremes of temperature are growing faster than the averages: the highest-ever temperature north of the Arctic Circle—100.4°F—was recorded in Verkhoyansk, Siberia, in June 2020;3 Anchorage reached an all-time h. [...] A major driver of Northern Hemisphere weather patterns and ocean currents is the temperature difference between the Arctic and the equator—a difference that is shrinking because the Arctic is warming faster. [...] Recent studies have shown why: the combination of surface melt, lubrication of flow toward the sea by melt water that has penetrated to the bottom of the ice, and erosion on the underside of coastal glaciers where they meet the ocean is a potent accelerator of ice loss. [...] The Science of Rapid Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic | Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center | August 2023 5 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Copyright 2023, President and Fellows of Harvard College The Science of Rapid Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic | Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center | August 2023.