Perilous Polar Heatwaves

Join Dr. Peter Carter, Paul Beckwith and Regina Valdez as they discuss the fact that the world’s two polar regions simultaneously hit temperature highs significantly above seasonal norms on Friday March 18th, 2022.

This video was recorded on March 23rd, 2022, and published on April 9th, 2022.

Some of the topics discussed:

• How the Antarctic experienced a high of 40°C (≈70°F) above seasonal norms simultaneously with the Arctic experiencing a high of 20 to 30°C (≈50°F) above seasonal norms and how this is a big surprise to scientists.
• How António Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General warned that countries are sleepwalking their way to climate catastrophe.
• How climate hazards have increased significantly over this past decade with people who have been displaced from their homes, experienced food and water shortages, and the fact that if the warming isn’t slowed down, the dangers are going to multiply.
• The vital need to keep our planet ‘the same,’ referring mainly to the polar ice which plays a critical role in stabilizing the planet’s climate.
• How scientists have been warning for decades that loss in ice area at the poles will lead to a hotter planet.
• How Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) have been extending into the Arctic and the Antarctic.
• Although the growing season in the northern temperate regions has expanded, extreme weather events have been hitting the region very severely. Two papers are cited on this topic.
• How the jet stream is being affected by the higher temperatures at the poles.
• How events like this along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will augment the stresses on the global food system.
• and more. . .

Links:

• Heat Map Antartica March 19 2022

• Antarctica, Arctic hit temperatures 40 C and 30 C hotter than normal

• A Powerful Heatwave is Affecting a Large part of Antarctica with Unprecedented Warm Temperatures More than 40 degrees Above Average

• Synchronized failure of global crop production - Zia Mehrabi et al.

• Satellite data shows entire Conger ice shelf has collapsed in Antarctica

• El Niño - The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the most important climatic phenomena on Earth.

Regular Panelists:

• Dr. Peter Carter - MD, Expert IPCC Reviewer and the director of the Climate Emergency Institute

• Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University

• Regina Valdez - Program Director, Climate Reality Project, NYC. GreenFaith Fellow and LEED Green Associate

Video Production:

• Charles Gregoire – Climate Reality Leader, Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum

• Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP26 Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.

Attributions:

Background Music:

• Title: Through the City II
• Author: Crowander
• Source: Free Music Archive
• License: BY-NC 4.0

Image and Video:

• Image and Video Attributions