Climate Change impacts on North America & Caribbean
Arctic warming is occurring four times faster than the global average, driving fires, storms, and freezes across North America, from the tropics to the icy north.
Quick Facts
North America & Carribean are warming 2X faster than the global average but the Arctic is warming even faster than that.
It amplifies climate change effects in North America & Carribean.
Understanding Climate Change Impacts in North America & Carribean: The Arctic Connection
The North American continent has five out of the 20 countries identified as the most at risk of climate related disasters over the decade 2000-2019 (Global Climate Risk Index 2021).
Socio-economic impacts of climate change have a negative impact on people’s livelihoods and wider economies. Read more on our Socio Economic Indicators page.
As the Arctic snow and ice melts, the sun reflects less energy to space. This causes more radiation–and thus heat–to be absorbed, and consequently, temperatures around the world increase.
Global heating is not the only direction the temperature can swing as a result of a warming Arctic–extreme cold snaps are also possible.
An abnormally warm Arctic region is associated with a meandering jet stream. Waves in the jet stream can block weather systems that have led to prolonged heat domes and drought, both of which have contributed to particularly strong wildfire seasons in the western United States and Canada.
Meandering jet streams can also bring Arctic air to areas unaccustomed to icy weather.
For each degree (Celsius) that the planet warms, the atmosphere is able to hold 7% more moisture. This moisture, especially when combined with warmer oceans, leads to stronger tropical cyclones (IPCC AR6 WG1, 2021).
In addition to causing devastation through salt water intrusion and the flooding of low-lying terrain, sea level rise is another result of Arctic melt that can make storms more perilous.
Greenland, currently the world’s largest source of sea level rise, holds the potential for 7.4m of higher seas. 27cm of this rise is already irreversibly committed due to the destabilisation of the ice sheet (Box et al., 2022).
When salt water encroaches upon new territory, it can seep into fresh water reservoirs, dry crops and flood shallow lands. Higher seas increase storm surges and flooding associated with storms, thereby contributing heavily to economic losses and destruction.
