Arctic sounds another warning on climate

The latest warning sounded is the Arctic heatwave that has clocked historical highs, largely due to the climate crisis.

The climate foghorn has been going off at increasingly shorter intervals over the past few years — from the 1.5 degrees C threshold being breached for the first time to record glacial melts. The latest warning sounded is the Arctic heatwave that has clocked historical highs, largely due to the climate crisis. The World Weather Attribution has concluded that climate change added 3 degrees C to heat conditions in the region — which caused Greenland’s ice sheet to melt 17 times the normal rate last month.

With time running out, hesitation on rebuilding the consensus pushes the planet further towards climate peril. (AFP)

Arctic heat, as scientists have long warned, compounds planetary warming with severe climate impacts, given depletion of the sea ice cover will expose the darker ocean which will absorb significant heat from the sun instead of reflecting it (as ice does). The impact is well known, from rising sea levels to severely disrupted weather patterns, threatening coastal human habitations and marine ecosystems. In the short run, the latest bout of Arctic fever has implications far away from the region, given its association with the South Asian monsoon and extreme rainfall in this part of the world.

The imperative for urgent climate action was clear a decade ago, which got the global community to sign the Paris accord. Now, even elementary agreements on actions and responsibilities lie in tatters, with the US under Donald Trump playing spoiler. The path from here to limit warming to avoid its worst impact isn’t visible, with parties to the UN climate convention not even filing revised ambitions on climate action. With time running out, hesitation on rebuilding the consensus pushes the planet further towards climate peril — despite the momentum in energy transition and individual jurisdictions acting on climate goals. Concerted action has always been the cornerstone of climate efforts, and there is no wishing it away.