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Original cartoon by John Cook
Temperatures at the North Pole could be up to 20 degrees higher than average this Christmas Eve, in what scientists say is a record-breaking heatwave.
Climate scientists say these unseasonably warm weather patterns in the Arctic region are directly linked to man-made climate change.
Temperatures throughout November and December were 5C higher than average.
It follows a summer during which Arctic sea ice reached the second-lowest extent ever recorded by satellites.
Arctic sea ice extent is monitored and measured by satellite imaging
Dr Friederike Otto, a senior researcher at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute told BBC News that in pre-industrial times "a heatwave like this would have been extremely rare - we would expect it to occur about every 1,000 years".
Dr Otto added that scientists are "very confident" that the weather patterns were linked to anthropogenic climate change.
"We have used several different climate modelling approaches and observations," she told BBC News.
Arctic heatwave could break records by Victoria Gill, BBC News, Dec 24, 2016
Russian email hackers keep playing us for fools by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%) has generated quite a bit of chatter on its comment thread. If you have not already done so, check out the article and take part in the lively conversation.
Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review the newspaper article, Arctic ice melt ‘already affecting weather patterns where you live right now' by Damien Carrington, Guardian, Dec 19, 2016. Six scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be ‘neutral’ to ‘high’.
Click here to access the detailed review.
Posted by John Hartz on Sunday, 25 December, 2016
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