The increase in temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctica, which reached up to 40 degrees above the usual average for the time, it was recorded for the first time at both poles simultaneously and can trigger “one of the dreaded points of no return”the Scientific Information and News Service (SINC) reported this Thursday, adding that for the first time, this phenomenon, which had been recorded only in the Arctic, occurred in both poles at the same time and recorded an increase in temperatures above average.
They also warned that Continued temperature rises in the Arctic, along with recorded heat waves, are related to the thawing of permafrost, which will intensify methane emissions into the atmosphere.
This region also lost between 2.7 and 1.3 billion tons of ice between 1992 and 2017.and recorded its lowest level of ice, since there are records, for the month of February 2022.
While, in Greenland, anomalies reached 10 degrees above averageand in the Arctic region they reached 30 degrees above the usual values, due to the decrease in albedo, which produces an increase in radiation and, as a consequence, in temperatures.
At the Concordia base, located in Antarctica, On March 18, the thermometers marked -12º C as opposed to the usual record, which is about -55º C, 40 degrees more temperature above average.
The consequence of the destabilization of the climate in the polar zones could be a “domino effect of changes on a planetary scale”, SINC reported, adding that this “it can generate abrupt climate change”, due to the critical role of these regions in regulating the global climate system and sea level.
extreme weather effects they are evidence of global warming and can cause “irreversible changes”, causing alterations in the circulation of air masses and extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, increased rainfall irregularity and droughts.
On the other hand, the first estimates of the consequences of the war in Ukraine indicate that emissions may rise by 14% in the year 2022, since if in the year 1990 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 350 parts per million, currently it is already higher than 419, considered “a worrying value”.
Despite this, and while fossil fuel emissions are responsible for record temperatures and climate change, due to the war, higher levels of coal and gas are being burned, and countries such as the United Kingdom have announced a return to offshore drilling to extract more oil.
