If you think these images from the North Pole look more like a lake than the snow-covered expanse you’d expect, that’s because it is — the North Pole has melted. April saw the ninth heaviest snow cover on record measured in the Arctic, covering the Pole in more of the white stuff than it’s seen in a long ol’ time. But by May temperatures increased and almost half the cover melted.
It’s not, perhaps, quite as dramatic as it sounds. Throughout July temperatures have been uncharacteristically high — up to 1-3C higher than usual on July 13, for instance — and the result has been an abrupt thaw of the snow cover that was left. These images, acquired from the North Pole Environmental Observatory, show the thaw in progress, between June 30 and July 25.
It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t the first time there’s been a meltwater lake at the North Pole, nor is it the worst — and we certainly shouldn’t draw climate change conclusions from what is realistically one data point. But it should at least make us think about what we’re doing to the planet. [444 via Cink]