Urban heat islands exist even in the Arctic

Sunless winter doesn’t prevent warming in cities

polar night

NORTHERN NIGHTS  Researchers ferry weather system sensors to Apatity, a Russian Arctic city. The team’s data show that during the polar night, indoor heating can bleed into the environment, warming it by as much as 10 degrees Celsius relative to nearby rural sites.

M. Varentsov/Lomonosov Moscow State Univ.

TROMSØ, Norway — A novel form of the “urban heat island” effect might contribute to why the far north is warming faster than the rest of the globe, a study of five Arctic cities finds.