Rebecca Herscher
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Sea ice is disappearing in the Arctic because humans are warming up the planet by burning oil, gas, and coal.
Sea ice loss affects weather around the world.
It also leaves coastal communities in the Arctic more vulnerable to storms, which in recent years has caused catastrophic flooding in parts of Alaska.
A huge swath of the Arctic Ocean freezes in the winter each year.
Last year, there was less ice than ever recorded, going back to 1979.
That's according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.
And this year has set a new record again.
with even less ice than last year, by a slim margin, according to newly released data.
Sea ice is disappearing in the Arctic because humans are warming up the planet by burning oil, gas, and coal.
Sea ice loss affects weather around the world.
It also leaves coastal communities in the Arctic more vulnerable to storms, which in recent years has caused catastrophic flooding in parts of Alaska.
El Nino happens when the water in the eastern Pacific is warmer than usual.
It causes global average temperatures to rise slightly.
When you combine that with the much larger warming effects of humans burning fossil fuels, you often get record-breaking heat.
A long, strong El Nino in 2023 and 2024 led both of those years to shatter global temperature records.
Now, federal forecasters say it's likely El Nino will return between June and August.
That would also affect regional weather patterns in the U.S.
The South generally sees more rain and lower temperatures in years when El Nino is active, and El Nino also makes it more difficult for hurricanes to form in the Atlantic.