WHILE western Europe copes with freezing temperatures and , the Arctic is experiencing record highs.
At Greenland鈥檚 most northerly point, Cape Morris Jesup, of Berkeley Earth in California says 鈥� and that the site has already spent this year than in any year on record. There is no weather station at the North Pole, but scientists suspect it, too, .
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鈥�,鈥� Rohde tweeted Monday.
This is backed up by at the University of California, Irvine, . His data suggests the Arctic is warmer than it has been at this time of year since at least 1958.
A weakening of the polar vortex is to blame. This spinning loop of air normally keeps the cold Arctic air separate from the warmer air further south. The extreme warmth is likely to slow or prevent the formation of Arctic sea ice, which has been shrinking for decades due to climate change.
