Arctic Warms Up
Temperatures at the North Pole could be up to 20 degrees higher than average this Christmas Eve, in what scientists say is a record-breaking heatwave.
The surging warmth in the past two months has already left scientists jittery, as escalating temperatures are feared to hit ice formation or coverage next summer and bring it down to record low levels
Temperatures throughout November and December were 5C higher than average.
The surface temperatures close to the Pole was about -4C, according to data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. At this time of year the average figure is about -30C.
"There's a low pressure between Greenland and Spitsbergen, with a very powerful air current" that is sending warm air surging north, Justyna Wodziczko, a Norwegian Meteorological Institute forecaster, told Reuters.
Climate scientists say these unseasonably warm weather patterns in the Arctic region are directly linked to man-made climate change.
"The temperatures there of the atmosphere are on … any given day, like 20 C warmer than they should be for this time of year," Jennifer Francis, a marine and coastal sciences research professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, told CBC News at the time.
