The United Nations confirmed the highest Temperature in the Arctic in 2020: 38 degrees Celsius

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization confirmed on December 14 that in 2020, the highest temperature in the Arctic reached 38 degrees Celsius, setting a new record.

In the same year, the average temperature in the Arctic Siberian region rose by as much as 10 degrees Celsius, causing the ice to melt in large areas. Due to the unusually high temperatures in the Arctic, the World Meteorological Organization has created a new entry for the Arctic specifically in its Extreme Weather Archive.

The group is also investigating historic heat in the United States and Europe.

WMO

Confirmation information released Tuesday shows that on June 20, 2020, temperatures in the Arctic town of Verkhoyonsk in northeastern Siberia, Russia, reached 38 degrees Celsius. Verkhoyonsk is located 115 km north of the Arctic Circle. According to WMO, the temperature is more like that in the Mediterranean than in the Arctic.

Before the record of 38 degrees Celsius, Siberia experienced continuous high temperatures, reduced snow cover, and reduced soil surface water content to record lows. In June, the average temperature in the Arctic region of Siberia was 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal, triggering large-scale wildfires in the area. 2020 is also the second consecutive year of large-scale wildfires in Siberia and the Arctic Circle.

WMO pointed out that 2020 is one of the three hottest years in history, and the large-scale melting of ice caused by high temperatures in Siberia is an important reason for driving up global temperatures. The Arctic has now become one of the fastest-warming regions in the world, warming twice as fast as the global average.

After confirming the historic high temperatures in Verkhoyonsk, WMO created a new entry specifically for the Arctic in its "Extreme Weather and Climate Archives", called "Maximum Temperature Recorded at or North Latitude 66.5 degrees North". So far, both the Arctic and the Antarctic have appeared in the WMO's Extreme Weather and Climate Archives.

At a time when the Arctic was reporting unusually high temperatures, and also in 2020, the Antarctic continent also reported historical new high temperatures. On February 6 of that year, the temperature at the Esperanza base in Antarctica reached 18.3 degrees Celsius. The last highest temperature in 2015 was 17.5 degrees Celsius.

Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, noted that in addition to the high temperatures in the polar regions, the WMO is also investigating the historical high temperatures reported by the United States in 2020 and Europe in 2021. In 2020, Death Valley in California reported a maximum temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius, the highest in the world. This summer, Sicily, Italy, reported a high temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius, the highest in Europe.

Taras said the WMO has never surveyed so many historical high temperatures at the same time as this year.