Arctic Report Card: Update for 2023

"The Arctic continues to rapidly evolve, shaped by past and ongoing human activities that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and push the broader Earth system into uncharted territory. Now in its 18th edition, this year’s Arctic Report Card (ARC2023) provides an updated annual view into the state of the Arctic by checking in on key Vital Signs—eight defining elements of the Arctic’s climate and environmental system. ARC2023 also samples critical and emerging Arctic topics, bringing into focus diverse collections of observations that help to assess the trajectory and impacts of Arctic change. Figure 1 locates some of these events in the pan-Arctic perspective and Fig. 2 is provided as a convenient place name reference.

This year’s physical and biological Vital Sign observations are in line with trends reported in past Arctic Report Cards—warming sea surface and surface air temperatures, decreasing snow cover, diminishing sea ice, both in spatial extent and thickness, and continued mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Year-to-year variations, in addition to long-term trends, are significant and can be especially important at regional scales.

Extreme weather and climate events during the past year in the Arctic and elsewhere have brought unambiguous, climate change-supercharged impacts to people and ecosystems. Such events vary in scale across time and space. In the span of a few hours, individual storms may create hardships and damage that last for years. Longer-term extremes, such as drought or prolonged high temperatures, also have direct, distinct impacts, produce cascading effects in other parts of the environment, and may exacerbate (or mitigate) shorter time frame weather extremes.."
Arctic Report Card 

Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters

"The U.S. has sustained 341 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2022). The total cost of these 341 events exceeds $2.475 trillion.

2022 in Context…

In 2022, there were 18 weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect the United States. These events included 1 drought event, 1 flooding event, 11 severe storm events, 3 tropical cyclone events, 1 wildfire event, and 1 winter storm event. Overall, these events resulted in the deaths of 474 people and had significant economic effects on the areas impacted. The 1980–2022 annual average is 7.9 events (CPI-adjusted); the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2018–2022) is 17.8 events (CPI-adjusted)..."
Weather and climate disasters 

Arctic Report Card: Climate change transforming Arctic into ‘dramatically different state’

"NOAA’s 2021 Arctic Report Card documents the numerous ways that climate change continues to fundamentally alter this once reliably-frozen region, as increasing heat and the loss of ice drive its transformation into a warmer, less frozen and more uncertain future. 

This year’s Arctic Report Card is the 16th annual volume of original, peer-reviewed environmental observations and analysis that documents rapid and dramatic shifts in weather, climate, terrestrial and oceanic conditions in the circumpolar region. Compiled by 111 scientists from 12 nations, it was released today during a virtual press conference hosted by the American Geophysical Union during its fall meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

“The Arctic Report Card continues to show how the impacts of human-caused climate change are propelling the Arctic region into a dramatically different state than it was in just a few decades ago,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “The trends are alarming and undeniable. We face a decisive moment. We must take action to confront the climate crisis.” 

The Arctic Report Card is organized into three sections. Vital Signs provides annual updates on seven topics: Surface Air Temperature; Terrestrial Snow Cover; Greenland Ice Sheet; Sea Ice; Sea Surface Temperature; Arctic Ocean Primary Productivity; and Tundra Greenness. Other Indicators explore topics that are updated periodically. Frostbites report on new and emerging issues, and topics that relate to long-term scientific observations in the Arctic. 

Some of this year’s significant findings include: 

• The October-December 2020 period was the warmest Arctic autumn on record dating back to 1900. The average surface air temperature over the Arctic this past year (October 2020-September 2021) was the 7th warmest on record. The Arctic continues to warm more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
• The snow-free period across the Eurasian Arctic during summer 2020 was the longest since at least 1990. June 2021 snow cover in Arctic North America was below the long-term average for the 15th consecutive year. June snow cover in Arctic Europe has been below average 14 of the last 15 years. 
• Following decades of relative stability, the Greenland ice sheet has now lost mass almost every year since 1998, with record ice loss in 2012 and 2019. In August, rainfall was observed at the Greenland ice sheet’s 10,500-foot summit for the first time ever.
• The volume of post-winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in April 2021 was the lowest since records began in 2010. The amount of older, biologically important multiyear sea ice at the end of summer 2021 was the second-lowest since records began in 1985.
• The total extent of sea ice in September 2021 was the 12th lowest on record. All 15 of the lowest minimum extents have occurred in the last 15 years. The substantial decline in Arctic ice extent since 1979 is one of the most iconic indicators of climate change.
• The loss of sea ice has enabled shipping and other commercial and industrial activities to push deeper into the Arctic, in all seasons, resulting in more garbage and debris collecting along the shore and more noise in the ocean, which can interfere with the ability of marine mammals to communicate. 
• Some of the fastest rates of ocean acidification around the world have been observed in the Arctic Ocean. Two recent studies indicate a high occurrence of severe dissolution of shells in natural populations of sea snails, an important forage species, in the Bering Sea and Amundsen Gulf..."
  Arctic Report Card: 2021 

Drought in the United States: Science, Policy, and Selected Federal Authorities

"Drought―a deficiency of moisture that results in adverse effects―occurs to some extent almost every year in areas of the United States. Droughts can simultaneously reduce available water supplies and increase demands for water. Drought has the potential to affect economic and environmental conditions on local, regional, and national scales, as well as to cause disruptions in water supplies for households and communities.

Droughts are a component of climate variability and may be seasonal, multiyear, or multi-decadal in duration. According to an August 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the physical science of climate change, variable precipitation and rising temperatures are intensifying droughts in some U.S. regions. According to the report, certain types of droughts, such as those causing agricultural impacts, are expected to be more likely in the western and central regions of the United States in the future.

The federal government generally defers to state primacy in surface and groundwater allocation, and states and local entities typically lead efforts to prepare for drought. Multiple federal agencies contribute to these efforts to predict, plan for, and respond to drought. The federal government, and in particular the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), plays a key role in researching and monitoring drought through the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the U.S. Drought Monitor. Other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), also research and monitor drought factors and conditions. The USDA provides the primary federal financial aid to lessen the impacts of drought and compensate for agricultural production loss after drought onset.

Congress has authorized federal assistance for other aspects of drought, but these programs generally are limited in scope. In localities or watersheds with major projects managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation, which operates exclusively in the 17 arid western states) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE, which operates nationwide), the federal role in water management is more direct and can be especially controversial during times of drought, when multiple users compete for water. Congress has directed both Reclamation and USACE to plan for future droughts at federally authorized projects. Other federal programs, such as those supporting non federal efforts to develop water conservation, water reuse and recycling, rural water supplies, or other municipal and industrial water supplies, may prioritize projects that lessen the impacts of drought even when these programs do not focus exclusively on drought.

Severe drought in California from 2012 to 2016, as well as widespread drought in the western United States in 2021 and other recent events, has raised the profile of drought and led to increasing congressional and administrative proposals to prepare for and respond to its impacts. Congressional interest in drought may include new and amended authorities for drought planning and response; emergency appropriations to alleviate drought impacts and enhance related activities; and oversight of ongoing federal drought science, preparedness, and management efforts..."
Drought 

Hurricane season 2020 and COVID-19

"June 1 is the official start of hurricane season, and now is a great time to make a plan to deal with weather emergencies. Especially because this year, we have the added concern of the COVID-19 pandemic, including what you need know if you have to go to a shelter. (Hint: it involves packing hand sanitizer and masks.)

Extreme weather events, like hurricanes and other natural disasters, can occur with little warning, and the effects come in many forms. Hurricanes may include heavy rainfall, high winds, storm surge, inland flooding, tornadoes, and rip currents. Are you ready to leave your home at a moment’s notice? Even if you’re a seasoned storm pro, have you thought through the differences in how you prepare during a pandemic?

The FTC’s site, Dealing with Weather Emergencies, has practical tips to help you prepare for, deal with, and recover from a weather emergency. Like all our materials, the site is mobile-friendly, so you’ll have ready access to information when and where you need it..."
Hurricanes and COVID-19

NOAA Climate Change Web Portal

"How climate changes in response to increases in man-made greenhouse gases is one of the foremost questions for the scientific community, policy makers and the general public.

A key approach for examining climate, especially how it will change in the future, uses complex computer models of the climate system that include atmosphere, ocean, sea ice and land components. Some models also include additional aspects of the earth system, including chemistry and biology.

The Climate Change Portal is a web interface developed by the NOAA ESRL Physical Sciences Division to access and display the immense volumes of climate and earth system model output that informed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) (http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/#.Uw0-KfRdUUA). Users can access two components of the portal that focus on:
 [Land and Water] [Oceans and Marine Ecosystems] [NW Atlantic Dynamical Downscaling].."
Climate change portal

2018 Fourth Warmest Year in Continued Warming Trend, According to NASA, NOAA

"Earth's global surface temperatures in 2018 were the fourth warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Globally, 2018's temperatures rank behind those of 2016, 2017 and 2015. The past five years are, collectively, the warmest years in the modern record.

“2018 is yet again an extremely warm year on top of a long-term global warming trend,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.

Since the 1880s, the average global surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius). This warming has been driven in large part by increased emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by human activities, according to Schmidt...:
2018 warmest year

Get your snowstorm smarts on: 8 forecast tools to use this winter

"Here's a secret for you: At NOAA’s National Weather Service, we’re like kids when it comes to snow. We love it! If you love snow like we do, become a snow-it-all in time for the winter solstice on December 21.

We’ve got 8 winter weather forecast tools you can tinker with on your mobile device or computer. Use them regularly to see where, when and how much snow, ice and wind is predicted:

1. Weather.gov: One-stop shopping for all your forecast needs

Feeling the [wind] chill? At weather.gov, you can plug in your Zip Code in the upper left-hand window, click “go,” and get the custom forecast for your location — including any local watches or warnings in effect — directly from your local forecast office. We have 122 of them across the country...." 
Snow forecasts

Arctic Report Card: Update for 2018

"Continued warming of the Arctic atmosphere and ocean are driving broad change in the environmental system in predicted and, also, unexpected ways. New emerging threats are taking form and highlighting the level of uncertainty in the breadth of environmental change that is to come.
Highlights

• Surface air temperatures in the Arctic continued to warm at twice the rate relative to the rest of the globe. Arctic air temperatures for the past five years (2014-18) have exceeded all previous records since 1900.
• In the terrestrial system, atmospheric warming continued to drive broad, long-term trends in declining terrestrial snow cover, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and lake ice, increasing summertime Arctic river discharge, and the expansion and greening of Arctic tundra vegetation.
• Despite increase of vegetation available for grazing, herd populations of caribou and wild reindeer across the Arctic tundra have declined by nearly 50% over the last two decades.
• In 2018 Arctic sea ice remained younger, thinner, and covered less area than in the past. The 12 lowest extents in the satellite record have occurred in the last 12 years.
• Pan-Arctic observations suggest a long-term decline in coastal landfast sea ice since measurements began in the 1970s, affecting this important platform for hunting, traveling, and coastal protection for local communities.
• Spatial patterns of late summer sea surface temperatures are linked to regional variability in sea-ice retreat, regional air temperature, and advection of waters from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
• In the Bering Sea region, ocean primary productivity levels in 2018 were sometimes 500% higher than normal levels and linked to a record low sea ice extent in the region for virtually the entire 2017/18 ice season.
• Warming Arctic Ocean conditions are also coinciding with an expansion of harmful toxic algal blooms in the Arctic Ocean and threatening food sources.
• Microplastic contamination is on the rise in the Arctic, posing a threat to seabirds and marine life that can ingest debris..."
  2018 Arctic report

BAMS State of the Climate

"2017 was one of three warmest years on record, international report confirms

BAMS State of the Climate 2017

It’s official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, trailing 2016 and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level.

The annual checkup for the planet, led by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society, is based on contributions from more than 500 scientists in 65 countries and offers insight on global climate indicators, extreme weather events and other valuable environmental data..."
Climate status

Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2017

"Based on preliminary analysis, the average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 54.6°F, 2.6°F above the 20th century average. This was the third warmest year since record keeping began in 1895, behind 2012 (55.3°F) and 2016 (54.9°F), and the 21st consecutive warmer-than-average year for the U.S. (1997 through 2017). The five warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S. have all occurred since 2006.

During the year, the U.S. experienced 16 weather and climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion, with total costs of approximately $306 billion – a new U.S. annual record. The previous costliest year for the U.S. was 2005 with losses of $215 billion driven in large part by Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita. The number of events (16) ties 2011 for most billion-dollar disasters in a single year. Some of the more noteworthy events included the western wildfire season, with total costs of $18 billion, tripling the previous U.S. annual wildfire cost record. Hurricane Harvey had total costs of $125 billion, second only to Hurricane Katrina in the 38-year period of record for billion-dollar disasters. Hurricanes Maria and Irma had total costs of $90 billion and $50 billion, respectively. Hurricane Maria now ranks as the third costliest weather and climate disaster on record for the nation and Irma ranks as the fifth costliest..."

Climate Assessment

Protected Area Database

"The Protected Areas Database of the United States is the official inventory of protected open space in United  States. With over 3 billions acreas in thousands of holdings, the spatial data in the PAD-US includes  publiclands, overlappings management designations, and Marine Protected Areas held in trust by national, state, and some local governments, and some nonprofit conservation organizations..." 
Protected land areas

National Climate Repott, June 2017

"The July average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 75.7°F, 2.1°F above the 20th century average and was the 10th warmest July in 123 years of record-keeping. Much-above-average temperatures were observed across the West and parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The year-to-date (January–July) average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 54.5°F, 3.2°F above average and second warmest on record. This was slightly warmer than the same period in 2006 and 1.2°F cooler than the record set in 2012.

The July precipitation total was 2.74 inches, 0.04 inch below the 20th century average and was near the middle value of the 123-year period of record. Above-average precipitation in the Southwest, Midwest and Northeast offset below-average precipitation in the Northwest and Northern Plains. The year-to-date precipitation total was 20.68 inches, 2.59 inches above average. This was the seventh wettest year-to-date on record and wettest since 1998..."
National Climate Report

Coastal Change Analysis Program Regional Land Cover and Change

"Nationally standardized, raster-based inventories of land cover for the coastal areas of the U.S. Data are derived, through the Coastal Change Analysis Program, from the analysis of multiple dates of remotely sensed imagery. Two file types are available: individual dates that supply a wall-to-wall map, and change files that compare one date to another.

The use of standardized data and procedures assures consistency through time and across geographies. C-CAP data forms the coastal expression of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and the A-16 land cover theme of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. The data are updated every 5 years..."

Coastal areas and change

Globe had 2nd warmest year to date and 3rd warmest June on record

"Climate by the Numbers

JUNE

The average global temperature set in June 2017 was 1.48 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 59.9 degrees, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. This average temperature was the third highest for June in the 1880-2017 record, behind June 2015 (second) and a record-breaking June 2016. June 2017 marks the 41st consecutive June and the 390th consecutive month with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average.

*Year to date | January through June 2017

The year-to-date average temperature was 1.64 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 56.3 degrees. This was the second-warmest for this period, 0.29 of a degree behind the record set in 2016..."

Record warm weather

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

"The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 600,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes a system of 13 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments...."
National Marine Sanctuaries

Status of Stocks: 2016 Annual Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries

"NOAA Fisheries is pleased to present the 2016 Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries as managed under the science-based framework of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). As a result of the combined efforts of NOAA Fisheries, the eight regional fisheries management councils (councils), and other partners, two previously overfished stocks were rebuilt, and the number of stocks on the overfishing and overfished lists remains near all-time lows. Two stocks were assessed for the first time in 2016, which resulted in new stock status information. Neither of these stocks are subject to overfishing or overfished. Continuous monitoring and improvement of our knowledge about the status of stocks is key to ongoing sustainable fisheries management under the MSA..."
Fisheries

National Marine Sanctuaries – Value Added for Communities and the Blue Economy

"If you were asked to draw a picture of the U.S. economy, what color would you use? Perhaps green, the color of money? How about the portion of the economy that is supported by our ocean and coasts? BLUE! 

Now think about what it feels like to be surrounded by blue seas – perhaps while casting out a line and peacefully waiting to feel the tug of a fish. Do you see that huge ocean liner on the horizon? Ever wonder which U.S. port it’s headed for? That ship, your boat, the fuel you used to get out there, the fishing rod in your hands – it’s all part of the “blue” or ocean economy. Including industries like maritime commerce, offshore mineral extraction, fishing, and coastal tourism, this ocean economy amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars in goods and services, and it supports millions of jobs each year..."
National marine sanctuaries

NOAA's 2016 Arctic Report Card: Visual highlights

"Now in its 11^th year, the Arctic Report Card, released today at the annual American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco, is a peer-reviewed report that brings together the work of 61 scientists from 11 nations who report on air, ocean, land and ecosystem changes. It is a key tool used around the world to track changes in the Arctic and how those changes may affect communities, businesses and people. Below are a collection of maps and other images highlighting some of this year's key findings..."
Arctic Region

How Carbon Dioxide is Affecting Marine Life and Our Oceans

"Carbon dioxide isn’t just causing shifts in our earth’s climate. About one fourth of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the air from the burning of fossil fuels to power our homes and cars ultimately ends up in the ocean, causing a change called ocean acidification. U.S. West Coast shellfish growers have already felt the impacts, and those in other regions recognize that change is in motion and want to understand potential impacts and how best to adapt.

Seawater rich in CO2 is deplete of a key building block shellfish like oysters, clams and mussels need to grow and maintain shells. These shellfish are particularly vulnerable when they are very young and just forming their shells. This higher-CO2, more-acidic water can lead to increased mortality among these young shellfish. NOAA and partners are working with shellfish growers around our nation to provide the tools that are needed to rise to this challenge..."Carbon dioxide and marine life