Arctic heatwave shatters Greenland, Iceland records; could hit monsoons

A record-shattering heatwave that sent Greenland's ice sheet melting at 17 times the normal rate was made 3°C hotter by the climate crisis, scientists said in an analysis on Wednesday, amid new data that also showed the past month to be the second-warmest May on record.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

The World Weather Attribution analysis concluded that the seven-day period of extreme heat in Iceland was about 3°C hotter due to climate change. Similar events could become a further 2°C more intense if global warming reaches 2.6°C, scientists warned.

The findings coincided with data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service showing May this year to be the second-warmest globally on record, with an average surface air temperature of 15.79°C—0.53°C above the 1991-2020 average.

The month was 1.4°C above the pre-industrial level and interrupted an extended 21-month phase of global temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. However, the 12-month period from June 2024 to May 2025 remained 1.57°C above pre-industrial levels, the climate service said.

In eastern Greenland, the hottest day in May was about 3.9°C warmer compared to the pre-industrial climate, the World Weather Attribution analysis found. The climate-driven heat corresponded with melting of the Greenland ice sheet that was approximately 17 times higher than average for the period, according to preliminary analysis from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

"This event is the largest May heatwave we have seen, even in weather stations going back more than a century," said Halldór Björnsson, group leader at the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The arctic circle climate phenomenon holds implications far beyond the polar region. Recent scientific papers have found that loss of Arctic ice can impact the South Asian monsoon, and it is linked to a rise in extreme rainfall events over South Asia.