Most Americans are no stranger to the concept of global warming, but recent reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are raising awareness of the effects of this human fueled phenomenon. Their report for 2020 shows that the Arctic Ocean, along with its inhabitants, have taken a big hit this year.

The rate at which the Arctic is melting has sped up more than any scientist had previously predicted for the past 20 years. Compared to the average from roughly 20 years ago, the surface water temperature has gone up 1-3°C. Now, a couple degrees may not seem like a big deal, but in the Kara and Laptev seas, which are in the Arctic, the small increase in heat led to early melting of sea ice.

The NOAA also saw coastal permafrost erosion rates go up, due to the shift in ocean conditions. About one-third of the coasts are permafrost coasts, which are coasts made up of sub-zero land, and the accelerated rate of climate change means that parts of the coastline thaws and erodes into the Arctic Ocean. This is disastrous because the rapid erosion causes large amounts of CO2 to be released. The surge in CO2 can contribute to rising temperatures, stronger storms, and higher quantities of ice melting. All of these conditions take a toll on the Arctic Ocean and its coasts, contributing to the erosion and rising global temperatures.

The ocean isn’t the only part of the Arctic that has been negatively affected by climate change, as the land has experienced record lows of snowfall this year. The NOAA believes that the extra warm spring in Siberia and the extreme wildfires around the globe, particularly in northern Russia, helped to cause the lowest Arctic snowfall in 54 years. The Greenland ice sheet lost a larger amount of ice than it has in a while, although it still managed to stay below the substantial amount of ice lost in 2018-19. Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland continued to see a trend of diminished ice sheets and glaciers in the same study.

There is not much an average person can do to help remedy these troubling statistics, but what is important is being aware of what is going on and to pay attention to the trends. It is believed that the Arctic can make a recovery; for that to happen, change needs to start now.