UAF scientists help keep record of global and Arctic climate

A view of blue glacier ice spilling into a body of water
UAF photo
A glacial outburst flood triggered by thinning of the Mendenhall Glacier damaged homes in Juneau in 2023. This was one of the extreme events that was included in the "2023 State of the Climate" report.

For the fourth consecutive year, University of AV狼论坛 Fairbanks scientist Rick Thoman served as an editor of an annual federal report summarizing the world鈥檚 climate.

describes global environmental conditions and highlights notable climate records. For example, Earth鈥檚 greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat and global sea level were the highest on record in 2023. 

Across the 鈥 the chapter of the report Thoman was responsible for 鈥 summer 2023 was the warmest ever. The warmth made for an increasingly navigable Arctic, where northern marine routes saw record numbers of ships and amounts of transported cargo. 

The hot Arctic summer had other far-reaching impacts, including record wildfires in Canada that displaced thousands of residents and thinning glaciers that triggered massive floods, damaging Juneau and other communities. Glaciers across the Arctic are melting; all 25 monitored Arctic glaciers included in the report were smaller in 2023 than in past years.

Though 鈥淪tate of the Climate鈥 outlines conditions from the previous year, detailing records that for some are 鈥渙ld news,鈥 the report, issued annually since 1996, provides a critical and long-running record of global climate that is important for science and tracking trends.

 鈥淚t provides peer-reviewed authoritative documentation of Arctic and global climate, which is important because it has been produced every year for decades,鈥 explained Thoman, who is a climate specialist at the UAF AV狼论坛 Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.  

Several other UAF scientists authored sections within the Arctic chapter. 

  • Tom Ballenger was a co-author on the atmosphere section.
  • Ballenger was lead author and John Walsh, Uma Bhatt and Thoman were co-authors on the temperature section. 
  • Walsh, Ballenger and Rick Lader were co-authors on the precipitation section.
  • Gabe Wolken was a co-author on the glaciers and ice caps outside Greenland section.
  • Bhatt, Chris Waigl and Don Walker were co-authors on the tundra greenness section.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists and collaborators compile the report, which was published Aug. 22 by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. To learn more about climate reports, review the .

CONTACT: Rick Thoman, rthoman@alaska.edu, 907-474-2415

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