Meteorologists have found an indication of global warming being in full swing. There were record temperatures in the Arctic Circle on Saturday. The mercury reached 38º Celsius in the town of Verkhoyansk. The town holds the world record for the greatest temperature range on Earth. It varies from a low of minus 68ºC to a high of 37.3ºC. The record heat is 18 degrees higher than usual. The Arctic Circle has had a heatwave for much of this year. This is ringing alarm bells with climatologists. They say the Arctic Circle is warming at twice the rate of the global average.
An atmosphere scientist said he was very worried about rising temperatures. He told the BBC: "Year-on-year temperature records are being broken around the world....It is unsurprising to see records being broken in this region. We will see more of this in the near future." A professor said: "This is a warning message from the Earth itself. We ignore it at our peril." Scientists say higher temperatures in Siberia could accelerate global warming. Melting permafrost in Siberia is increasing alarming levels of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.