2016 Arctic Spring and Summer Warming Observed by AIRS

Globally, December 2015 through February 2016 contains the warmest winter surface skin and air temperatures in the AIRS observational record.  Continuing this trend, the AIRS global surface temperatures of spring 2016 show the greatest positive anomalies from average during March and May, since AIRS observation begins in September 2002.  This spring warming is particularly significant over the Arctic where the snow and sea ice melt is closely tied to the spring and summer surface temperatures.  Unlike in winter 2016, the surface temperature anomaly in Antarctic also shows spring warming and both Arctic and Antarctic leaded the global spring warming.      

In this presentation, we show the global distribution of Average Rates Change (ARCs) of AIRS surface temperatures over the period September 2002 – May 2016 and compare them with those from the MERRA2 and GISTEMP reanalysis. They show a good agreement on the global patterns of the warming and global mean temperature increase during the spring warming of 2016. In particular, we will address the significance of the warm spring 2016 and its relation to Arctic Environmental changes.