Temperatures are rising

The Arctic’s average temperature increases are nearly twice that of the rest of the world. Over the past 50 years average temperatures in the Arctic have increased as much as 7 degrees Fahrenheit. In the next 100 years some areas in the Arctic may see an increase in average temperatures as high as 13 degrees Fahrenheit.

As temperatures rise in the Arctic, sea ice and glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate. Over the past 30 years, 386,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice have melted away, an area larger than Texas and Arizona combined. The latest observations suggest that Arctic sea ice could completely disappear by 2020.