Average temperatures in the high Arctic have been climbing quickly, in step with our copious greenhouse gas emissions. Since December, air temperatures in the Russian Arctic have been nearly 11°F higher than the average seen over the past four decades. And as our Craig Welch reported in 2018, warming in the Arctic can potentially lead to a dangerous feedback loop, in which the region’s permafrost is no longer frosty on a permanent basis. In this scenario, some scientists worry that greenhouse gases long trapped in the frozen soil might escape, further exacerbating climate change. (Above, ground collapses at a permafrost megaslump in northern Siberia.)



Based on our best climate modeling, if warming continues unabated, records like the one