NEW YORK, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Spring is coming to the Arctic earlier and autumn later these days, according to new NASA research on global warming.
The report, by NASA scientist Josefino Comiso, covers temperatures over the entire Arctic, not just from scattered areas as past studies have done, USA Today said Thursday.
Annual temperatures in parts of the Arctic have warmed as much as 1.9 degrees since 1981. But, some parts have cooled by as much as 0.16 degrees.
In an earlier report, Mark C. Serreze of the University of Colorado said in September 2002, less ice covered the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer than any year since satellites began keeping track of it in 1979.
Further, native hunters around the Arctic report that earlier spring melting and later fall freezing of sea ice is upsetting centuries-old patterns of hunting and fishing. They say the ice is no longer reliably in sync with the migrations of seals, whales, and fish.
