Earth & Sky

Scientist: greatest warming at higher latitudes

Most scientists are convinced that global warming is real.

And, we’re told, the scientific community is in large part convinced that this warming is due mainly to human activities.

David Easterling: The greatest warming that we’re seeing is in the higher latitudes, especially in the northern hemisphere. That includes up into Siberia and Russia, and we’re seeing it in the winter and in the spring, pretty much all over the northern hemisphere. So I say it’s a microcosm in the sense that we’re seeing the greatest warming in North America, in the higher latitudes. That’s also true in Europe and into Asia as well.

That was David Easterling, Chief of the Scientific Services Division at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. He told Earth & Sky about some impacts of global warming.

David Easterling: A real interesting impact of that is in Canada, where some people say, “Who cares if it only gets down to minus 30 instead of minus 40?” Well, there are certain thresholds, such as minus 40 degrees, where if you have days where you don’t go down to minus 40 or colder, then it allows pine beetles up in Canada to survive very easily through the winter.

Described as an “epidemic” by the Canadian government, mountain pine beetles have already infested and killed millions of trees.

Our thanks today to NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.