The Arctic plays an important role in the global climate system, and it warms up faster than the whole Earth. Scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed the in-situ air temperature at Ny Alesund (78°55'1.2N, 11°55'58.8E), where the Chinese Arctic station Yellow River locates. They warned the fast warming in the Arctic, but also pointed out that this February was not the warmest there.

The IAP team found the fastest warming in the Arctic and the highest temperature in the recent warm wave. Based on the analysis, the daily mean temperature (DMT) reached 3.3℃, with a maximum temperature of 4.4℃ on February 26, 2018, much higher than other regions of the Arctic and even the lower latitudes.

According to the media citing the annual report of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of USA, the Arctic saw the warmest temperatures ever recorded in 2016.

Daily mean air temperature in 60 N on Feb 26, 2018. Red circle denotes Ny Alesund. (Image by IAP) 

However, this is not the highest DMT in February on record, according to the IAP team. The DMT at Ny Alesund has the record of 3.5℃, and a maximum temperature of 4.9℃ on February 5, 2017.

The analysis warns a rapid warming in February at Ny Alesund, and the highest DMT in February has increased 11.1℃ since 1998, with a trend of 3.2℃ increase in every 10 years. In recent 10 years, the highest DMT in February exceeded 0℃ 8 times, which is possibly related to the change of the north Atlantic current.

IAP has started an observation campaign at Ny Alesund since June 2017 and will use lidar and UAV to detect atmospheric processes.