The Arctic last season was the hottest it has been in the past 125 years. The extent of sea ice during its usual maximum in March was the lowest in 47 years of satellite recordkeeping. The North American tundra was more green with plant life than ever recorded.These observations, shared Tuesday in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic report card, show how rapidly and profoundly the region is shifting as the planet warms.“The Arctic continues to warm faster than the global average with the 10 years that comprise the last decade marking the 10 warmest years on record,” said Steve Thur, NOAA’s acting chief scientist and its assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs a result of this warming, “melting permafrost is altering ecosystems, turning over 200 watersheds in Arctic Alaska orange as iron and other elements are released into its rivers,” Thur said. Researchers have observed higher acidity and a greater concentration of toxic metals in these rusting streams.That is one of many consequences of climate change in the region that the report outlines. This is the 20th year that NOAA has released its Arctic report card, but the first during President Donald Trump’s second term.The Trump administration has taken steps to scuttle or downplay other reports about climate change, including the National Climate Assessment and a database of billion-dollar climate disasters. Trump has also called climate change a “con job,” and his administration is working to remove the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate the greenhouse gas pollution that causes it.In a news conference Tuesday, Matthew Druckenmiller, one of the report’s authors and a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said the team “did not receive any political interference with our results.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOutside scientists i …
