The 2016 Arctic Report Card, produced annually since 2006, is a peer-reviewed report produced by over 60 scientists from 11 countries to illustrate to the world just how much the Arctic has changed within the last year.
This year's report was especially bleak: the air temperature in the Arctic is increasing at double the rate of everywhere else.
The average Arctic surface temperature from January until September of this year have been the highest since the year 1900. Due to this, the sea ice declined rapidly, causing the water to be more exposed to radiation, warming the average ocean temperature. Likewise, thawing of the land's permafrost is increasing quickly, releasing a lot of carbon into the atmosphere.
You might be saying: why do I care that the Arctic is going through this?
Well, the Arctic is kind of like the air conditioner for the Earth. Changes in the Arctic affect the entire world. As Jeremy Mathis, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s arctic research program and co-editor of the report cardsays,“What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic."
The report highlights the fact that the melting of the Arctic will have catastrophic implications. Resource supplies, such fisheries, will be destroyed. Sea level will rise. There is predicted to be more forest fires. The oceans will be more acidic. More wildlife will go extinct... The implications are tremendous, FOR EVERYONE.
Acoording to Donald Perovich, a professor who helped edit the report, 10 years ago, when the report was first published, "You had to listen closely because the Arctic was whispering change." However, Perovich says that now, the Arctic is telling us something different. He says, "It’s not whispering anymore ... It’s shouting change.”
Please, pay attention to this report card and think about your impact on climate change. The Arctic is in trouble, and I hope we can combat some of the problems we have caused... By next year, hopefully we can acheive some success for our Earth, and see some positivity.
