Record warming at the North Pole – what does it mean?

Warming at the North Pole has reached alarming levels. The beginning of February brought record-high temperatures that meteorologists say were as much as 20°C higher than the multi-year average. Combined with galloping climate change, this seasonal warming raises legitimate concerns for the future of the Arctic and the Earth as a whole.

Warm weekend at the pole

On February 4 this year, Britain’s The Guardian, citing data from the Finnish Institute of Meteorology and the Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported that last Saturday thermometers north of the Norwegian city of Svalbard indicated a temperature increase of 18°C over the 1991-2020 average. On Sunday it got even warmer, with the anomaly reaching more than 20°C. According to Mika Rantany of the Finnish Institute of Meteorology, in the remotest regions of the North Pole, where real measurements are difficult, the difference could be as high as +30°C.

Measurements by the Copernicus service showed that at the 87°N parallel the temperature reached -1°C, while measurements from the Arctic buoy indicated +0.5°C, which is above the melting point. Already in January, the volume of Arctic sea ice reached the historical minimum of 2018, forming 6 percent below normal for the first month of the year. According to data from the Danish Meteorological Institute, the beginning of 2025 brought temperatures above the 80°N parallel unambiguously higher than the 1958-2002 average.

Why is warming at the North Pole continuing?

Scientists explain the surprising February warming by a low atmospheric pressure system that developed over Iceland, sending a strong current of warm air toward the North Pole. A similar phenomenon was observed seven years ago, when the Arctic also experienced a winter episode of spring. This time, however, the warming was also helped by unusually high water temperatures in the northeastern Atlantic.

Weather anomalies are somewhat of an expected phenomenon and do not necessarily translate into long-term climate trends. However, the situation over the Arctic has been worrisome for years – according to a study published in 2022 in the journal Nature, the North Pole has warmed almost four times faster than the rest of the world since 1979. This phenomenon is mainly explained by the disappearing layer of sea ice, which normally reflects solar radiation. When it starts to disappear due to the global temperature increase, the warming intensifies at both poles.

Other explanations also include the Earth’s increasing energy balance and the associated Planck feedback, the influence of clouds and oceanic heat transport. As a result, between 1979 and 2021, the Arctic Ocean warmed more than 0.75°C per decade, and land temperatures rose more than 1.25°C per decade.

The Arctic is in danger of melting

The warmth over the North Pole obviously means a faster rate of melting of Arctic ice. From a study published in 2023. in the journal Nature Communications shows that its loss has increased significantly since 2000. Scientists predict that even before 2025 there will be months when there will be no sea ice at the pole at all. This bleak scenario is projected even if we succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. After 2080, the Arctic Ocean in its warmest month, September, could be completely devoid of ice.

Why is Arctic melting dangerous? WWF warns that the lack of white cover at the North Pole will further increase global temperatures and bring even more intense summer heat waves. At the same time, the destabilization of the polar jet stream could bring with it extremely cold winters. Sea levels will also rise, threatening coastal communities, and unpredictable weather could disrupt crop systems and reduce global food security.