"Arctic's Year Of Crazy Extremes As Warming Hits Overdrive"

"WASHINGTON — Warming at the top of the world has gone into overdrive, happening twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and extending unnatural heating into fall and winter, according to a new federal report.

In its annual Arctic Report Card , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday tallied record after record of high temperatures, low sea ice, shrinking ice sheets and glaciers. Study lead author Jeremy Mathis, NOAA's Arctic research chief, said it shows long-term Arctic warming trends deepening and becoming more obvious, with a disturbing creep into seasons beyond summer, when the Arctic usually rebuilds snow and ice.

Scientists have long said man-made climate change would hit the Arctic fastest. Mathis and others said the data is showing that is what's now happening."

Seth Borenstein reports for the Associated Press December 13, 2016.

Source: AP, 12/14/2016