After the summer solstice, the Arctic Circle has gradually entered the hottest period with the longest daytime. Just a few days ago, the ground temperature in Siberia reached a record high of 48 degrees Celsius, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

The accelerating climate change has caused an increased frequency of extreme climate events (e.g., high temperatures and heavy rainfall). The average global temperature increases year by year as the Earth is getting hotter. In the past week, Phoenix recorded 45 degrees Celsius, while the power grid in Texas, another city in the United States, tripped when a heat wave hit. In Taiwan, temperatures have risen more than ever since May this year, where many cities saw a temperature of 38 degree Celsius and higher.

Abnormal weather also occurs in the Arctic, where the ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite measured a scorching high temperature of 48 degrees Celsius in Yakutia, Northeast of Siberia.

Similarly, Govorovo and Saskylah in Sakha measured a ground temperature of 43 and 37 degrees Celsius, respectively, which are both the highest record since 1936, and these are the ground temperature, not the air temperature.

The ground temperature, as its name suggests, refers to the surface temperature of the ground.  After solar radiation strikes the Earth, the energy is partly reflected by clouds and partly absorbed by the ground surface, thus warming the ground, where the temperature measured is called ground temperature. The said high temperature event in Siberia also affects permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic permafrost stores a great amount of greenhouse gases; when it melts, the sediment will release tons of methane back to the atmosphere. Moreover, melting permafrost can cause landslides and tear down building foundations, and even release viruses and toxic substances, exposing the world to danger.

The rising ground temperature has caused abnormally hot weather in summer in Siberia. Last month, parts of the Arctic recorded over 30 degrees Celsius, which was much higher than average. Dry and hot weather can exacerbate wildfires; as of June 22, Sakha has been struck by 64 forest fires.

Furthermore, Moscow in Russia is experiencing the hottest June over the past 120 years. What’s even worse is that Roshydromet (The Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring) predicts that the temperature will keep rising due to climate change. Currently, the highest temperature in Russia was recorded in June 2020, during which  the temperature in Verkhoyansk reached 38 degrees Celsius.

(Source of the first Image: ESA)