Meteorologists have observed another indication of global warming being in full swing. Temperatures in Arctic Circle hit all-time record on Saturday, with mercury topping 38º Celsius in Siberian town of Verkhoyansk. town currently holds the Guinness World Record for greatest temperature range on Earth. It fluctuates from low of minus 68ºC to high of 37.3ºC. The record heat is 18 degrees higher than the daily average for June. The Arctic Circle has been experiencing heatwave for much of this year. Temperatures have averaged 10 degrees above normal. This is ringing alarm bells with climatologists, who say Arctic Circle is warming at twice the rate of global average.
Atmosphere scientist Professor Dann Mitchell expressed his concern on rising temperatures. He told BBC: "Year-on-year temperature records are being broken around world, but Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, so it is unsurprising to see records being broken in this region. We will see more of this in near future." Professor Chris Rapley of University College London said: "This is warning message from Earth itself. We ignore it at our peril." Scientists say higher temperatures in Siberia could accelerate global warming. Melting Siberian permafrost is releasing alarming levels of greenhouse gasses carbon dioxide and methane into atmosphere.
