'Old Statistics Do Not Apply': Record-Breaking Arctic Heatwave Made 3C Hotter By Global Warming
"People often think of countries like India, Italy and the US when we talk about climate change and heatwaves,” says Dr Sarah Kew, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. But, as a new study from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group shows, “even cold climate countries are experiencing unprecedented temperatures.”
A record-breaking heatwave in Iceland and Greenland last month was made around 3°C hotter due to human-caused climate change, the group of researchers has found. On 15 May, the Egilsstaðir Airport station in Iceland recorded 26.6°C, a new national record for the month. Just days later, on 19 May, the Ittoqqortoormiit station in eastern Greenland reported 14.3°C, well above the monthly average of daily maximum temperatures of 0.8°C.
“To some, an increase of 3°C might not sound like much, but it contributed to a massive loss of ice in Greenland,” adds Dr Kew, one of 18 global researchers behind the new WWA study.
The climate change-driven heat from 15-21 May corresponded with around 17 times higher than average Greenland ice sheet melting, according to preliminary analysis from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US.
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https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/06/11/old-statistics-do-not-apply-record-breaking-arctic-heatwave-made-3c-hotter-by-climate-chan