Temperature measurements have been taken in the middle of the ice sheet at the Summit Station research station since 1991, and no less than four months – April, August, November and December – ended up as the warmest months since the measurements began, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute.
"Summit Station measured an average temperature of –30.9 °C in December, and such a high temperature has not been recorded in a December before. The record of –30.9 °C is a full 8.1 °C higher than the climate normal 1991-2020", it is stated on the DMI's website.
Thought-provoking
- It is thought-provoking that Summit Station once again appears as a hot potato in our measurements, but it must be taken into account that the measurements from Summit Station do not have as long a history as other Greenlandic measurement stations, states climatologist Caroline Drost. While data from Summit Station goes back to 1991, there are measurements elsewhere in the country that go back to the 1950s and even all the way back to the 1900s.
It is reported that several heat records were set around the country in December. The explanation is several low pressure areas, which resulted in warmer weather during the Christmas month.
Tense
"Temperature deviations from the 1991-2020 climate normal range from +2.2 °C at Ikerasassuaq (Prince Christians Sound east of Greenland's southern tip) to +8.1 °C at Summit. At Aputiteeq in Southeast Greenland, December also ended at a record high with a monthly mean temperature of –2.3 °C, which is 4.9 °C higher than an average December," it states.
