This week’s Ask Eartha takes a look at climate change’s impacts in Arctic climates, including the North Pole. Dear Eartha, how does climate change impact Santa’s holiday operations? If you haven’t heard, things aren’t looking so cool in Santa’s part of the world. In fact, the North Pole and the whole Arctic region is heating up — fast. For decades, scientists have understood that climate change is warming Earth’s icy north faster than the rest of the planet . This phenomenon is called “ Arctic amplification ,” and recent research shows just how quickly polar conditions are, well, amplifying. Data from the past 40 years show that Arctic temperatures are increasing four times the rate of the rest of the world . Whereas average global temperatures have increased about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1980s , temperatures above the Arctic circle have increased more than 5 degrees . Arctic on thin ice Why is the Arctic heating up faster than everywhere else? There are a number of factors , the most important of which is melting sea ice . As anyone who’s gotten a winter sunburn can attest, snow and ice reflect sunlight. This is called the albedo effect . But as ocean and air temperatures warm, the sea ice melts, exposing blue ocean waters . The darker ocean surface absorbs more heat from the sun, further increasing temperatures, and accelerating climate warming as a result. There is a long list of detrimental societal and ecosystem impacts caused by a changing arctic climate and these impacts extend well beyond the limits of the Arctic Circle . But what about Santa? Is the Arctic’s jolliest denizen immune to the dangers of a changing climate? Santa is a climate refugee Unfortunately, the North Pole is not located on land . Instead, […]