Not-so-icy pole: freak weather makes North Pole warmer than Vancouver or Vienna this week
Temperatures are set to hit 4 degrees Celsius at the top of the world, thanks to a powerful low-pressure system linked to tornadoes in the US and flooding in Britain
A freak weather system that has brought tornados to Dallas and high winds and heavy rainfall to the UK means that North Pole will likely be hotter than Vancouver, Vienna or Istanbul this week.
The Arctic is expected to reach 4 degrees Celsius this week, about 25 degrees warmer than average for this time of year, meteorologists have warned.
Computer model projections indicate this would make it milder than much of Canada and the US.
Temperature fluctuations are fairly common in the Arctic, where shifts in sea ice cover can significantly affect local air temperatures, but such a strong variation is extreme.
“That’s absolutely terrifying and incredibly rare,” meteorologist Eric Holthaus told Slate.
“By any yardstick, these are extremely warm and likely record readings for the north pole,” noted climate blogger Robert Scribbler. The strange weather coincides with an unusually warm winter in Europe and the eastern US and torrential flooding in parts of south America.
The warm weather could affect the buildup of Arctic sea ice during the winter. Ice cover has already been vastly reduced by global warming.
