Missing Arctic ice fueled the “Beast of the East” winter storm





Extreme weather has become the new normal—whether it’s precipitation, drought, wind, heat, or cold. The question of how the ever-shrinking layer of Arctic sea ice has contributed to any of these changes has prompted some lively discussion over the past few years. Researchers have proposed that a weakened jet stream driven by vanishing Arctic sea ice might play a large role in extreme winter events like the descending polar vortex that struck North America earlier this year. But the idea hasn’t held up well in light of more recent evidence.

But now, researchers have identified a direct link between extreme winter weather and sea ice loss. The 2018 “Beast of the East” winter storm hit Europe with record-breaking snowfall and low temperatures. And potentially as much as 88 percent of that snowfall originated from increased evaporation of the Barents Sea.

The working hypothesis is that Arctic sea ice acts as a cap for Arctic waters, limiting evaporation. Less sea ice and warmer Arctic temperatures mean more evaporation, potentially explaining the increased severity of winter storms like the Beast of the East. Until now, it has been tough to measure direct evidence linking sea ice loss to extreme European winters, but recent advances in technology are making this a little less challenging.

Secrets of the north

With sub-freezing temperatures, 24-hour darkness in winter, and, well, not very much land, the Arctic is among the world’s most hostile research environments. To date, much of the direct data from the region has been collected by hands-on research boats, but these expeditions are expensive and limited in where and when they can be used.

Instead, this latest research used a recent technology—an isotope and gas-concentration analyzer—that automatically collects real-time data at the impressive frequency of nearly one measurement per second. Although the researchers haven’t installed the instrument in the farthest reaches of the Arctic, they have added one at a weather station in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, northern Finland, just a few hundred kilometers from the Norwegian Sea.

They installed the instrument in late 2017, and it has been allowing them to detect the naturally occurring stable isotopes in water vapor—i.e., hydrogen and oxygen—since then. Two of these isotopes, 18O and 2H, have been widely used for tracking hydrological processes over the last 70 years. Because these isotopes are a little heavier, they are less likely to evaporate, creating unique isotope “fingerprints” for phase transitions such as evaporation, cloud formation, rain, and snow. This has made it possible to trace the origins of storm systems—and the research team put this instrument in place just in time for a whopper of a storm.

As shrubs take over Labrador's tundra, the effects of climate change stretch beyond the ice



During Derrick Pottle's lifetime spent on the land of northern Labrador, there have always been insects around. But those bugs have been nothing compared to what he's seen in recent summers, when the air has been thick with black flies and mosquitoes, he says.

"My goodness, you try to go outdoors and you try to carry on activity outside — recreation or projects or whatever you're doing — and you're just totally swarmed with bugs," said Pottle, a hunter in Rigolet, which is the southernmost Inuit in Nunatsiavut, Labrador's Inuit territory.

"You just virtually can't breathe for them," he said. "And it's horrible."

Insect repellent and bug jackets are a few essentials needed to deal with the changing seasons along the northern coast of Labrador, which is experiencing rapid climate change — with rising winter temperatures and thinning coastal ice disrupting daily life.

Typically, Pottle would still be snowmobiling well into late May. This year, he put the machine away on April 17, after getting barely three months of use out of it.

"I drove a snowmobile back to Rigolet from Goose Bay at the end of January. And you're zigzagging around holes in the sea ice, and believe me, that's not comfortable and that's not safe," he said.

Some of that ice he travelled on Lake Melville had fractured by April 28 — the second earliest time ever and a month ahead of normal, according to the Canadian Ice Service.

WEclome to the party, Lindsay. But seeing as it took you 20 to 30 years to grasp the obvious, why do you think anybody would want to listen to your solutions. I mean, clearly you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

NOAA unveils a warmer climate "normal" for the U.S.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed new standards on Tuesday for what an average or "normal" U.S. climate looks like, showing average temperatures in the U.S. rising significantly.

Why it matters: Shifting the baseline for normal temperatures highlights just how quickly climate change is affecting conditions on Earth.

Updating these standards is important for helping shape government policies and what your local weather forecaster says the "average" high temperature is on a given date.

The big picture: NOAA releases climate averages for the preceding 30-year period every 10 years. The "climate normals" released Tuesday cover 1991-2020 and indicate that the U.S. climate has warmed, and also become wetter over time.

NOAA noted that parts of the U.S. may also get drier, due to climate change.
"The influence of long-term global warming is obvious," per a press release.

The new normals may shift how the climate is described for particular parts of the U.S.

With the changes, Fairbanks, Alaska is no longer considered a sub-Arctic climate, but is now termed a "warm summer continental" climate.

Labrador seal hunt largely sidelined as sea ice hits 50-year low

Mina Campbell of North West River has been hunting seals each spring for 40 years, one of many who take to Labrador's ice by late April in an activity rooted in Indigenous culture for centuries.

But Campbell hasn't made it out once yet this season, due to the warm temperatures and lack of ice.

"The ice conditions are too iffy … Even though it's a big part of our life in the spring, it's certainly not worth risking your life," said Campbell.

That risk is also record-setting.

In the last week of April, the Canadian Ice Service recorded the lowest amount of sea ice in Labrador in its history of record-keeping, which dates back 50 years. The coast of northern Labrador is currently down to about 14 per cent of its ice cover, according to the CIS, a contrast to the average ice cover for this time of year of about 35 per cent.

The numbers are stark, but aren't without precedent.

Campbell said she's noticed in the last few years it seems like the ice is thawing up earlier. That causes trouble for the hunters, as they can only begin hunting the seals once they've grown big enough to eat.

In a report suppressed under Trump, the EPA has said for the first time that humans caused the climate crisis

For the first time, the US Environmental Protection Agency has said that the climate crisis is — at least in part — caused by human activities, the BBC reported.

The agency had never before said that human activities caused the changes in the Earth's climate, a press officer for the EPA told the BBC.

The acknowledgment came in the latest update of the EPA's Climate Change Indicators, which was published on Wednesday.

Climate Change Indicators used to come out every year, but stopped publishing in early 2017, just as President Donald Trump took office. Its work recommenced after President Joe Biden took office earlier this year.