Artic polar circle

The Arctic Circle, incidentally, is an imaginary line located at 66º, 30'N latitude, and as a guide defines the southernmost part of the Arctic. The climate within the Circle is very cold and much of the area is always covered with ice.

The clacier's goes into retreat slowly

The bottom portion of Norway's Storbreen (Big Glacier) in Jotunheimen has split in two and is steadily melting.

Several years of warm summers and poor snowfall have left Bretunga, the lower part of the glacier, in poor shape.

The glacier is now clearly divided in two. Less than ten years ago it was completely joined there at the bottom.

More or less all of Norway's glaciers are now on the retreat. They are shrinking in both length and volume, and the trend has been clear since the beginning of the 20th century.

Glaciers react quickly to changes in temperature and precipitation, and provide much useful information to climate researchers.

Ancient ice shelf adrift

A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said , citing climate change as a "major" reason for the event.

The Ayles Ice Shelf - 66 square kilometers (41 square miles) of it - broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.
This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years.
We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.
Hell and high water (book to read by Joe Romm)
Dagbladet

Arctic ice melting away

As Norway entered yet another December week of unseasonably warm temperatures, experts were warning that all the ice in the Arctic may melt by 2040.
The Arctic ice is melting faster than even the most pessimistic forecasts of just a few years ago. Norwegian climate experts have worried about the Arctic for years, while also noting how glaciers on the Norwegian mainland are shrinking by the year.

A local ornithologist noted that birds have started singing again because of the warm temperatures, thinking it's time to establish their territory on the eve of a new nesting season.

The unseasonably warm temperatures have also led to sightings of insects normally dormant at this time of year, while lawns are green and some plants are starting to blossom again. There's even been a pollen report already, something that normally isn't necessary until March at the earliest.


Aftenposten, Norwegian

Lack of snow

December snow hasn't been so difficult to find in Norway for at least 60 years. From Finnmark in the far north to the mountains of southern Norway, there's a decisive lack of the white stuff, and that's posing some economic concerns along with local disappointment.

And there's no snow in sight (hip hip hurrah! hurrah!)
For that matter, the snow can stay away the whole winter...

(Indian) "Summer" in November

Norway is having its warmest autumn ever, with the past three months seen as a block setting a record high.
Norway's temperature records are over 100 years old, and with November predicted to go out as mildly as it has been so far, the new record seems safe.

On the mainland the temperature has been 1.5C-4C higher than normal, with the greatest deviation seen in southern and eastern Norway.

In fact the greatest deviation from the norm has been seen on Arctic Svalbard, which has had temperatures fully 6C above the norm.

Indian summer
Indian summer is a name given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn, not long before winter. This time can be in late October or early November (Northern hemisphere) / late April or early May (Southern hemisphere), usually sometime after the first frost. It can persist for just a few days or weeks.

Global warming
An issue of major concern is the possible effect of the burning of fossil fuels and other contributers to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The action of carbon dioxide in trapping infrared radiation is called the greenhouse effect. It may measurably increase the overall average temperature of the Earth, which could have disastrous consequences. Sometimes the effects of the greenhouse effect are stated in terms of the albedo of the Earth, the overall average reflection coefficient.

Mild,wet weather frustrates skiers

It's almost December, but weeks of rain and relatively warm temperatures are washing away the start of the skiing season in southern Norway.


Several ski resorts in the mountains opened for the season a few weeks ago, but even there, the weather has simply been too warm for good skiing conditions.
I don't like snow, for that matter the snow can stay away the entire winter..

Warmest September on record

It's official: Oslo residents just experienced their warmest September in recorded history. Meteorologists confirmed over the weekend that average temperatures last month were fully 4.2 degrees centigrade higher than normal.
Locals are calling it the "endless summer." Not only did areas all over southern Norway have a long and unusually warm summer, now it seems like autumn has been postponed indefinitely.
My hope is that the summer last to Christmas.....

Wettest August in 43 years

After one of the warmest and dryest summers in years, residents of southern Norway have had to wade through the wettest month of August since 1963.

With just a few days left in August, meteorologists feel they already can report that large portions of the southeastern districts are setting precipitation records.
Heavy rains are expected over the next few days as well.
Flood warnings remain, but there's some good news: The sudden deluge has raised water levels in several reservoirs, in turn raising hopes that skyrocketing electricity prices may ease.

The climate of Norway

With its northern location, Norway is often regarded as a cold and wet country. In some aspects this is true, because we share the same latitude as Alaska, Greenland and Siberia. But compared to these areas we have a pleasant climate. Thanks to its location in the westerlies, on the east side of a vast ocean, with a huge, warm and steady ocean current near its shores, Norway has a much friendlier climate than the latitude indicates.
Norway's climate shows great variations. From its southernmost point, Lindesnes, to its northernmost, North Cape, there is a span of 13 degrees of latitude, or the same as from Lindesnes to the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore we have great variations in received solar energy during the year. The largest differences we find in Northern Norway, having midnight sun in the summer months and no sunshine at all during winter. The rugged topography of Norway is one of the main reasons for large local differences over short distances.