National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce
Melting sea ice in the Chukchi sea in June 2016 seen from the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft
Instrumented wave glider with Alaska glacier - Evans
Pelagic Trawl nets sample fish in the water column - Alex Andrews
North Pole with rainbow on July 5, 2010
Launching saildrone in Dutch Harbor AK ©Saildrone Inc. 2015

What's New

December 16, 2022

A typhoon, smoke from wildfires and increasing rain are not what most imagine when thinking of the Arctic. Yet these are some of the climate-driven events included in NOAA’s 2022 Arctic Report Card, which provides a detailed picture of how warming is reshaping the once reliably frozen, snow-covered region which is heating up faster than any other part of the world.

This year’s Arctic Report Card also features the most comprehensive chapter in the annual report’s 17-year history about how these dramatic environmental changes are felt by Arctic Indigenous people, and how their communities are addressing the changes. Additionally, a chapter on precipitation has been added reflecting an improvement in available data and showing the dramatic increase in precipitation across the Arctic in recent decades. 

Surface Air Temperature

PMEL Arctic researcher's Dr. James Overland and Dr. Muyin Wang contributed to sections on surface air temperature. Arctic annual air temperatures from October 2021... more

In the News

November 30, 2022

There is danger lurking on the floor of the Bering and Chukchi seas for mussels, snails, clams, worms and other cold... more

November 24, 2021

The Arctic Ocean has been warming since the onset of the 20th century, decades earlier than instrument observations... more

August 09, 2021

The highest temperature ever verifiably recorded on Earth—54.4 degrees Celsius (130 degrees Fahrenheit) in Death... more