Photo: ReutersAlaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm. Wildlife also suffered from the state's chaotic weather, with mass die-offs of seabirds and marine mammals struggling to cope with ecological upheaval. But the escalator is going up," said Rick Thoman, a scientist with the university's Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. Alaska's warmest year on record was 2016, when annual temperatures averaged 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or just over 0 degrees Celsius. For 2019, the statewide average through November stood at 34.5degF (1.3degC), a year-to-date high that tops nearly a century of record-keeping.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 27, 2019 00:56 UTC