Deadly heatwaves, droughts and wildfires in Europe and North America
First heavy rain in 115 years on the Korean Peninsula
The 2022 climate catastrophe, the beginning of which was the Arctic.
Due to the abnormal climate that has become a daily routine, Europe suffered the worst heat wave ever, exceeding 40 degrees Celsius this summer. The high temperature has led to drought and wildfires, and the disaster is still ongoing. The United States also suffered from heatwave and record wildfires, and on August 8th in Seoul, we experienced heavy rain of 141.5mm per hour.
■ The broken heart of the earth goes to the North Pole
A climate catastrophe that threatens our survival, the beginning is pointed to as the Arctic. The Arctic’s warming three times faster than the global average, and the disappearance of snow and ice, have broken the heart that regulates the Earth’s climate. As the jet stream, a strong wind circling the Arctic, weakens and stagnates, abnormal climates are becoming more frequent around the world. To face the reality of the Arctic, the KBS reporter team headed to the Norwegian Svalbard Islands, the northernmost part of the Earth at latitude 78 degrees north.
■ Glaciers disappear and huge tidal flats, is this the future of the Arctic?
Svalbard’s glaciers, which have been formed for thousands of years, are in danger of disappearing. From the Wallenberg glacier described as a ‘runaway locomotive’ in the scientific journal ‘Science’ as the glacier is pushed down 9m a day, to the Nordenskiold glacier where melted ice water falls like a waterfall, there is little time left to see the glacier.
In particular, the Dixon Fjord is an area undergoing the most rapid change. As the glaciers melted, sediments were pushed in and turned into huge mudflats. As the Arctic heats up, all other glaciers could become tidal flats, scientists warn.
■Polar bear eating ‘bird eggs’, submerged ‘Noah’s Ark’
The Arctic’s biggest predator, the polar bear, struggles to survive. A polar bear has been spotted stealing seabird eggs off the west coast of Svalbard. Twelve polar bears ate 2,600 eggs in 18 hours. Recently, scenes of hunting reindeer instead of seals and walruses have been observed. As the Arctic sea ice disappeared, it was a tearful adaptation.
Are human beings an exception? The Svalbard International Seed Vault, created in 2008 in the Arctic permafrost, stores over 1.1 million seeds entrusted from around the world. However, in the fall of 2016, the glacier was flooded by melted water. The last vault of mankind has also collapsed in the face of the climate crisis. Without seeds for food cultivation, human survival cannot be guaranteed.
Arctic changes are not confined to the Arctic. The circulation of the atmosphere and the ocean and the collapse of the permafrost are all connected, leading to abnormal climates everywhere and threatening the survival of mankind. Maybe we should listen to the ‘broken heart, warning from the Arctic’ before it’s too late.
‘A broken heart, a warning from the Arctic’ KBS 1TV August 23, 2022 (Tuesday) 10:00 p.m.
Reporter: Shin Bang-sil
Cinematographer: Hong Seong-baek, Song Hye-seong
Video Editing: Song Hwa-in
Composer: Park Hye-sook
Source: So-Hyun Chu, Ji-Hyeon Kim
Assistant Director: Lee Jung-yoon
#Arctic #Abnormal Weather #Glaciers #Tidal Flats #Sea Level #Climate Disaster #Permafrost #Polar Bears #Faulty Heart #Arctic Warning
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