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December 18, 2023

Ranking Members Lofgren and Ross Statement on NOAA 2023 Arctic Report Card

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its 2023 Arctic Report Card. Since 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published its annual Arctic Report Card, which tracks environmental changes over time for the region. The 2023 Arctic Report Card details that over the past year, Arctic temperatures exhibited an alarming progression of warming. Surface air temperatures were the sixth warmest since 1900 with summer surface air temperatures being the warmest ever recorded. In the ocean, sea surface temperature is increasing at a rate of ~0.9°F per decade, and sea ice extent was the sixth lowest since 1979.

“The Arctic Report Card released last week marks another alarm sounded on the climate crisis,” said Ranking Members Lofgren and Ross. “The Arctic is a major indicator of what’s to come for the rest of the globe, and the impacts of arctic warming are far reaching. As leaders on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology we remain committed to supporting robust climate solutions with science at the forefront. Strengthening our cutting-edge research and development efforts that will help us address climate change—like the clean energy provisions included in the CHIPS and Science Act—are key to this effort.”