Arctic warming in last decade same as whole Earth's in past century: Study

Los Angeles: The Arctic has warmed by 0.75 degrees Celsius in the last decade alone, whereas the Earth as a whole has warmed by nearly the same amount over the past 137 years, according to a study which examined the global consequences of continued polar warming.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, documented the effects of warming in the Arctic and Antarctic on wildlife, traditional human livelihoods, tundra vegetation, methane release, and loss of sea- and land ice.

The researchers, including those from the University of California (UC) Davis in the US, also examined consequences for the polar regions as the Earth inches towards a 2 degree Celsius warming -- a threshold, crossing which may lead to irreversible impacts on global climate, according to the UN's Paris Climate Accords drafted in 2015. "Many of the changes over the past decade are so dramatic they make you wonder what the next decade of warming will bring," said study lead author Eric Post who teaches climate change ecology at UC Davis. "If we haven't already entered a new Arctic, we are certainly on the threshold," Post cautioned.

A business-as-usual approach by policy makers, the researchers said may lead to the 2 degree Celsius threshold in just about 40 years. "But the Arctic is already there during some months of the year, and it could reach 2 degrees C warming on an annual mean basis as soon as 25 years before the rest of the planet," Post said.

According to the study, a global 2 degree Celsius warming may lead to up to 7 degrees of warming for the Arctic, and a 3 degree heating up of the Antarctic during some months of the year.