Letter: The cold reality of a warming Arctic

Lest anyone infer that the recent cold weather disproves claims that the world climate is in crisis, I would like to share what science has found.

We experience deeper cold because the Arctic is warming. For at least eight of the past 11 years, Arctic weather has set record-high temperatures.

Warmer air in the Arctic — which to us feels super cold — tends to push southward, toward us. That is how we have had a few colder winters lately.

In another sign of impending crisis, the thickness and total area of Arctic ice are declining year by year. Science estimates that by the fall of 2035, there will be no Arctic ice cap.

By that time, our local winters will have warmed. And they will be warmer than they used to be. Winter will be one long April. Expect heavy snowfall or rain, followed by frequent thaws above 45 degrees.

And the primary cause of it is stuff like what we pump out of the North Slope. Ultimately, the economic cost of all that warming will far exceed what the oil industry has ever paid us.

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