December 20, 2023 — NOAA’s 2023 Arctic Report Card includes new information confirming that human-caused warming of the air, ocean and land is having a broad range impact across the Arctic region, which is warming faster than other parts of the world.
The overriding message from the 2023 report is that now is the time for action, said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. NOAA and its federal partners have ramped up their collaboration with state, tribal and local communities to help improve climate resilience. At the same time, Spinrad said, the United States and the global community need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving these changes.
NOAA’s annual Arctic Report Card, now in its 18th year, includes the work of 82 authors from 13 countries.
It includes a section called “Vital Signs” which updates physical and biological changes, chapters on emerging issues, and a special report on the 2023 summer of extreme wildfires.
One new chapter in the report focuses on salmon species that are vital to the heath, cultures and food security of many Indigenous communities as well as to commercial fishing economies. The chapter notes that in 2021 and 2022 sockeye salmon reached record-high abundances in Bristol Bay, while Chinook and chum salmon that are fished along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers fell to record-low abundance. Declining fisheries have continued into the current year, resulting in harvest closures.