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The Arctic endured one of its hottest years in 2020, study finds

The year 2020 did not beat the record set in 2012, but came quite close.

A YEARLY REPORT from environmental scientists has confirmed an alarming trend: the North Pole is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

The year 2020 did not beat the record set in 2012, but came quite close.

The sea ice floating the Arctic ocean melts in summer and freezes again in winter. The problem is each year it is melting a bit more in the warm weather and refreezing a bit less.

Scientists can now obtain reliable data as satellites have been photographing and measuring the Arctic non-stop since 1979.

2020′s late summer thaw was the second worst year on record after 2012: compared to its highest historical level, half of the sea ice is now gone.

Since 2010 a new generation of satellites is capable of measuring the thickness of the ice and here the news is also grim. The ice is thinner, younger and more fragile.

The report released today, called the Arctic Report Card 2020 and published by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, provides a wealth of information that illustrate the complexity of the Arctic climate system.

The climate in the rest of the world — wind and currents — affects what happens at the North Pole, while the South Pole is comparatively more isolated.

This complexity is seen in a statistic tucked away on page 13 of the report: Alaska’s North Slope experienced its coldest February in 30 years and it was also colder than usual in Svalbard, Norway.

But Siberia set heat records, with temperatures 3-5 degrees Celsius above normal, and the region suffered terrible wildfires in the spring.

The air temperature at the surface of the Arctic over the course of 2019-2020 was 1.9 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the period 1981-2010, making it the second hottest year on record since 1900.

The phenomenon of “Arctic amplification,” which causes this region to heat up faster than other parts of the world, is in full force.

The Arctic ocean is also heating up: in August of this year the water was between 1 and 3 degrees Celsius hotter at the surface than the average for 1982-2010.

Here, too, events are linked and fuel each other. When ice melts and exposes the ocean, the water absorbs more heat from the sun, which in turn worsens the melting of the sea ice, although this time from underneath.

“One of the things that’s important to realize about the Arctic is it’s a system. It’s a system of interconnected components,” said Donald Perovich, a professor of engineering at Dartmouth University and co-author of the sea ice chapter in the NOAA report.

“You can change one thing, those changes cascade through the whole system,” he said.

Sea ice is both an indicator and amplifier of global warming.

Its melting does not contribute directly to rising sea levels, as this ice is already in the water. But the melting does contribute indirectly by heating up the water.

For Arctic researchers the true shock came in September of 2007, when the summer melt of the sea ice was extreme. Since then, 2012 broke the record.

“We never returned to the levels we saw in 2006 or earlier,” said Perovich. “We’re in this new regime.”

Models forecast that there will no longer be any sea ice in summer in the Arctic starting between 2040 and 2060.

Back in the first edition of this report in  2006, researchers were still not sure of the Arctic heating trend. They expressed doubt that permafrost — soil that is frozen year round — could melt in the north of Alaska.

Now, those same researchers say “it is anticipated that progressive deep thawing of permafrost in this region may begin in 30-40 years”.

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    Mute Derek Walsh
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    Dec 28th 2015, 8:51 AM

    If I like someone enough to give them a present, then I want them to be happy with it. If they’re happier to return, exchange or re-gift it than keep it, I have no interest in stopping them. If I know they didn’t like the present, I’ll try harder in future to get them something more suitable.

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    Mute Greg Ward
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    Dec 28th 2015, 8:48 AM

    Of course it’s okay. No point in having something that you won’t use. Plus, if you’re me, all clothes will need to be swapped for a bigger size. Goddamn Quality Street!

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    Mute James Delaney
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    Dec 28th 2015, 3:46 PM

    What a Stupud ? – Only the Journal could come up with such an article.

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:11 AM

    Why do some people buy pure rubbish As gifts anyway!!! One4all vouchers Are best option now so u can buy what you want. Personally I always subtly find out what people want/need before I purchase so they’re getting something they actually want. Nobody wants sh!te candles and sprays.

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    Mute Stephen Devlin
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:15 AM

    Those cards have fees every month if you don’t spend the money.

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    Mute Ronan Sexton
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:17 AM

    No, those ones don’t.

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    Mute Stephen Devlin
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:25 AM

    2.7 A monthly inactive balance charge of €1.45 (or the credit balance on the Card, if lower) will be charged after the Card has been in issue for 12 months. This charge will start to be applied from the following month and will continue until such times as the balance on the Card is zero and this Agreement is terminated.

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    Mute Derek Walsh
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:30 AM

    One4All vouchers are just ersatz money. I’d rather have cash that I can spend in any shop, and that doesn’t expire.

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    Mute Malvolio32
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:42 AM

    Stephen, the main point you left out in your first post was that the deductions don’t start for 12 months. I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:42 AM

    No fees on those cards!! I have several in my wallet that I use from time to time on clothes usually!! You have to use the card within 12 months before any charge is applied! I would assume most people use their vouchers within a year!!! I certainly would!!!

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    Mute Stephen Devlin
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:07 AM

    Malvolio that’s why I posted the second one so there would be no ambiguity

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    Mute Dan Broderick
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:31 AM

    Gift voucher givers are tossers

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    Mute Jay Orr
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:36 AM

    That’s after 12 months .. Most vouchers are not valid at all after 12 months!

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    Mute James Delaney
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    Dec 28th 2015, 3:47 PM

    NOTE – An Post deduct €1.45 for every month the 1for all voucher is unused – Robbers.

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    Mute Ron Burgundy
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:11 AM

    Gift voucher all the way.

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    Mute Malachi Shanks
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:25 AM

    Re-gift the crap !

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    Mute Charlie Melia
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:17 AM

    I suppose I’m a bit old school. I don’t really care what people give to me. Its the fact they went out of their way and bought or made something for me. So no I wouldnt return what they bought or made….. Its also the reason I toss gift vouchers in the bin….. If I mean so little that I’m not worth any effort at all, then the gift isnt worth anything to me either…..

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    Mute Ron Burgundy
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:30 AM

    Stop talking scutter.

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    Mute Demise Grad
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:33 AM

    Charlie I know many people who prefer gift vouchers. If you don’t know what somebody needs or likes it’s a way of ensuring they are happy with whatever they get. If you give a voucher you are basically saying let me pay for something you really want. That’s based on caring. If you didn’t care you wouldn’t be offering to buy anything. Receiving a gift doesn’t mean any effort went in or thought. I know someone who picked something they liked and gave that same thing to all couples they had to buy for. There’s no effort in that. A voucher is no less effort than that. The thing is sometimes you don’t know persons size/style or even if you ask they say they don’t want anything. Throwing out people’s hard earned money because they gave you a voucher is a much worse thing to do that giving a voucher in the first place.

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:37 AM

    Give the vouchers to someone else , give them to a charity or a homeless person but to throw them in the bin is just pathetic .

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:43 AM

    FFS Charlie are you mad??

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    Mute Gary Comerford
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:05 AM

    Your an idiot

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    Mute Lurfic
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:37 AM

    Haha the irony of saying that the one gift that has a clear monetary value is worth nothing..

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Dec 28th 2015, 2:14 PM

    Charlie, half of your story is correct, the first half, for the second half, well., well.!!!!!!

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    Mute GameOverMan
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    Dec 28th 2015, 10:39 AM

    So long as its not a kidney…that’d be rude

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    Mute Adam Fox
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:20 AM

    Socks, hankerchiefs and bath-sets should all be returned…

    …For cigarette money!!

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Dec 28th 2015, 2:12 PM

    It would be better if people just stopped giving gifts because as far as I can see a lot of people are ungrateful nowadays . Most people will keep a receipt and then it is fairly easy to change if a size is wrong or something. To give a gift back, to me that would be very ungrateful. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Dec 28th 2015, 11:40 AM

    Gift vouchers are the greatest load of cobs! Not all stores accept them, some have an expiry date and others lose value over time if unused. Who needs that sh 1t.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Dec 28th 2015, 12:34 PM

    I’ll take it! My sister got me an expensive handbag that I would never be seen in public with, neither would a pensioner! It will be getting exchanged!!! Crocodile skin! Ugh!

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    Mute Scorpionvenomm
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    Dec 28th 2015, 1:01 PM

    Lol

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:59 AM

    No. You can’t do that. You can’t go and ask someone for the receipt so you can get money.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:45 AM

    Poor charlie ,needy are we tut tut

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    Mute Pat Butler
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    Dec 28th 2015, 9:12 AM

    Save yourself the bother. Don’t buy presents ever

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