This is an admittedly arbitrary metric. Zero degrees Fahrenheit is significantly colder than zero degrees Celsius, the freezing point of water. Anchorage is in no immediate danger of becoming a tropical paradise. It’s the sort of data point that those seeking bolder action on climate change will embrace, but, as the first chart shows, there’s a tremendous amount of volatility in low temperatures, particularly during the winter. One bit of data does not a long-term warming trend make, and next year could very easily see Anchorage experiencing several weeks of below-zero temperatures.
It is, however, the sort of thing that we should expect to see more of. This has been the second-warmest January-to-November period on record in Alaska; ski resorts near Anchorage didn’t have enough snow to open for the Thanksgiving holiday. The state has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the country, thawing permafrost and glaciers.
Anchorage’s 2014 could be a false alarm; it could be a little spike on the dial. Or it could be the first of many such years to come.
See Full Story at WashingtonPost.com
image credit APEonline.org
