"I think we should definitely do more things to prevent climate change because as people say the Arctic, the north, is like a canary in a coal mine, it’s the first sign of climate change and it seems like we could be doing way more to prevent it."
Climate change in the Arctic
The climate in the Arctic is changing at a faster rate than the rest of the world. This does not just have implications for region but also the rest of the planet.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic was 38°C, which occurred on June 20, 2020, in Verkhoyansk, Siberia.
The NOAA Arctic Report Card in 2024 has also identified that 2024 was the second warmest on record with ocean temperatures warming at a rate of 0.3°C per decade since 1982. Sea ice in September 2024, was the sixth-lowest since satellite records began in 1979.
These changes have had an impact on life both in the ocean and on land.
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A teenager living in the Arctic talks about how climate change is affecting her life.
You’ve said that you have noticed changes in the weather recently in that the summers have been warmer and in the winters you have had less extreme weather. Has this affected your life in any way? Has it made it easier or has it made it more difficult?
In the winter it is easier to get around lately, but we don’t have as much snow as we used to.
Is the snow melting quicker each year as well?
Yes, it melts really fast.
And what affects does that actually have on your livelihoods and your lifestyle?
Well, I suppose sometimes it can be an inconvenience considering the water levels, because we’re right near the river and there are so many lakes around us, they rise so that there are some roads which you can no longer use.
We talk a lot about climate change, and people talk a lot about the effect climate change has on the Arctic and the Antarctic, is that something you are concerned about? Given that you are supposed to be experiencing climate change or do you not think about it that much there?
No, I think we should definitely do more things to prevent this because as people say the Arctic, the north, is like a canary in a coal mine, it’s the first sign of climate change and it seems like we could be doing way more to prevent it.
