But it was closed in 1991. Dr Serreze said Canada was also cutting back on the amount of data gathered from its high-latitude climate stations by going over to automated systems. But we are losing the value of long-term data continuity. Our study validates climate-model results that predict the Arctic will be among the first regions on earth to respond to a global warming trend. Given what we are seeing, continued monitoring of this region is crucial.
Some researchers still doubt that human activities are inducing rapid climate change.
They highlight the inconsistencies between the temperature records taken at the Earth's surface, which show rapid warming over the last century, and the data produced by satellite and balloon studies. Climate models generally predict that temperatures should increase in the upper air as well as at the surface if increased concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing the warming recorded at ground level.