The 2018 Arctic Report Card is presented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Produced in collaboration with an international team of scientists,
the 13th Arctic Report Card provides a timely review of the current state of the Arctic
climate and environment in 2018.
In 2018 the sea ice remained younger, thinner, and covered less area than in the past,
especially on the Pacific side of the Arctic.
In the Bering Sea, ice extent was at a record low for virtually the entire winter.
Near-record sea-ice minimums have now occurred every year for the past 12 years.
Older and thicker classes of ice are also disappearing,
leaving behind a weaker and more mobile ice pack that is less likely to survive the summer
melt.
Ice older than four years now makes up less than 1% of the Arctic ice pack.
Landfast ice has also been in decline since the 1970s.
Declines in Arctic sea ice are the result of warmer air and ocean temperatures,
which also are drivers of broad, long-term change
seen across the Arctic in 2018.
In the ocean, warmer temperatures and receding ice have had a profound effect on primary
productivity
which makes up the base of the food chain
and the foundation of the marine ecosystem.
On land, snow cover is decreasing and river discharge is increasing.
High temperatures records in Greenland were set in winter,
but low temperature records were broken in summer
and tundra vegetation is expanding and greening,
but the population of grazing animals
– caribou and wild reindeer –
continue to decline sharply.
The warming Arctic appears to have interconnections with the wider world -
specifically with unusual weather patterns beyond the region.
Extreme weather events in 2018
like February’s ‘Beast from the East’ severe cold outbreak in Europe
and a record-setting heat wave at the North Pole
are associated with unusually persistent waves in the jetstream
that disrupt the normal exchange of heat between the mid-latitudes and the Arctic.
While the exact cause of these high-altitude waves is still only partially understood,
their linkage with unusual conditions on the ground in the Arctic
and points to the south is plain.
Connections between large-scale ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns
and the warming Arctic
are also related to emerging threats to Arctic ecosystems.
In the warming Arctic waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas,
algal toxins are being found in seals,
walrus,
whales,
and other marine mammals.
While the Arctic is a remote region,
higher microplastic concentrations were observed in the Arctic Basin
than in all other ocean basins in the world.
Particularly high concentrations were found in the Greenland and Barents seas,
and were likely transported there by Atlantic Ocean currents.
As elsewhere, marine plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and marine life
that can become entangled or ingest debris.
The events of 2018 show no indication that the Arctic will revert to the cool and icy
conditions of the past any time soon.
With even warmer ocean waters in the Bering and Chukchi seas this summer,
compared to the previous two years,
the conditions are set for another delayed freeze-up
and low ice growth in the coming winter.
There is clear evidence that the year-on-year persistence of warmer temperatures and thinning
ice
is continuing to have negative impacts on the Arctic ecosystem
that threatens the health of Arctic animals and people.
For more information and to read the full Arctic Report Card,
visit www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card
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