Weather above normal for 18 consecutive months
New temperature records in Norway and northern Russia suggest that this could be the warmest autumn in a century.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET) reported on Tuesday that never before has such a long period of above-normal temperatures been recorded. The temperature in October in Norway was almost two degrees higher than usual, making it the 18th consecutive month above normal.
As the researchers emphasise, the previous record was 15 consecutive months, from February 2014 to April 2015.
“We cannot explain the temperature rise without including the fact that there is also a human-made contribution”, climate researcher Jostein Mamen is quoted by MET.
“It’s not normal for the global temperature to rise so quickly,” meteorologist Patrick Stoll from the MET told the Barents Observer earlier, when his office reported about an exceptionally warm September in Tromsø, the Arctic capital of Norway.
October in Norway this year was the eighth warmest on record since measurements began in 1901.
Russian North
Meanwhile, temperature records were also set in Murmansk, the Russian Arctic capital and a port city. According to the Murmansk Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, the climatic autumn, which ended in October, was the warmest in the last 90 years of observations.
“According to preliminary data, the average temperature exceeded the climatic norm by 3.3°C. The previous record for autumn temperature belonged to 2024. This year, both autumn months were very warm: in September, the air temperature exceeded the climatic norm by 3.6°C, and in October it exceeded it by 3.1°C,” the Department reported.
“It should be noted that warm autumns are becoming commonplace for residents of the Murmansk region. Six of the ten highest autumn temperature readings were recorded in the 21st century,” the Russian scientists emphasised.
“With weather, you always get the coldest or the warmest days, – meteorologist Patrick Stoll told the Barents Observer earlier, – But, of course, there is also the general situation of the global temperature rising as more and more greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Wildfire seasons in the N.W.T. unlikely to ease off by next century, study finds, CBC News
Finland: Flooding in Finland is getting worse, new climate report says, Yle News
Greenland: Ocean currents may be driving mercury pollution in Arctic, says study, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: Resilience, recovery prioritized in Iceland report on Grindavik evacuation, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Global emissions to fall in the next decade, UN reports, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: New NOAA report finds vast Siberian wildfires linked to Arctic warming, The Associated Press
Sweden: Proposal—Sweden’s 2030 climate targets to remain unchanged, Radio Sweden
United States: How the Arctic has been ‘pushed & triggered’ into climate extremes: paper, Eye on the Arctic
