The Arctic Report Card (hereafter ‘ARC’) has been issued annually since 2006. It is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable, and concise environmental information on the current state of different components of the Arctic system relative to historical records. The ARC is intended for a wide audience interested in the Arctic environment and science, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers, policymakers, and the general public.
ARC2023 contains 12 essay contributions prepared by an international team of 82 scientists from 13 countries. An independent peer review of ARC2023 was organized by the Secretariat of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). ARC is classified as a NOAA Technical Report and is archived within the NOAA Library Institutional Repository.
ARC2023 is organized into three sections: Vital Signs, Other Indicators, and Frostbites. The Vital Signs section is for annual updates on eight recurring topics: Surface Air Temperature; Terrestrial Snow Cover; Precipitation; Greenland Ice Sheet; Sea Ice; Sea Surface Temperature; Arctic Ocean Primary Productivity; and Tundra Greenness. The Other Indicators section is for topics that are updated every 2-4 years, many of which have appeared in previous ARCs. The Frostbites section is for reports on new and newsworthy items, addressing emerging issues and topics that relate to long-term observations in the Arctic. In addition, each year the Executive Summary offers a high-level synthesis of the content within the Arctic Report Card. Unique to the 2023 Executive Summary is the sidebar on wildfire. Given the extraordinary wildfire season in 2023 and associated impacts that transpired in parts of northern Canada (after ARC2023 essays topics were identified), the sidebar offers a brief report on the summer wildfire season in the Arctic.
People occasionally ask questions such as “How are essay topics selected?” or “Why is topic X not in the Arctic Report Card?” The short answer is that each ARC strives to include some recurrent topics as well as new topics and thus covers many subjects over a period of years. In this way, the ARC achieves a comprehensiveness over time that is not possible in any single year. A complete list of topics covered since the first publication of the ARC is available at the Report Card Archive. Click on these hyperlinks for a list of all ARC2023 authors and their affiliations, and a list of references from all 12 essays and the Executive Summary. If you’d like to submit a topic for consideration for future reports, please submit your idea via the Google form here.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for Arctic Report Card 2023 was provided by NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring & Observing Arctic Research Program, including content editing funded through the Cooperative Institute for Earth System Research and Data Science (CIESRDS) via NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA22OAR4320151 (Druckenmiller and Moon) and by the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA20OAR4320271 (Thoman). The editors thank AMAP for organizing the independent peer review and those who provided review comments. The editors also recognize the tremendous contribution of Sarah J. Tucker, John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, and the Arctic Research Program in NOAA’s Global Ocean, Monitoring, and Observing Program, who coordinated and managed the various elements of the ARC’s production process; and the whole of the Arctic Report Card production team for the professionalism, dedication, and enthusiasm in producing each year’s Report.
How to cite Arctic Report Card 2023
Citing the complete report or Executive Summary:
Thoman, R. L., T. A. Moon, and M. L. Druckenmiller, Eds., 2023: Arctic Report Card 2023, https://doi.org/10.25923/5vfa-k694.
Citing an essay (example):
Mudryk, L. R., A. Elias Chereque, C. Derksen, K. Luojus, and B. Decharme, 2023: Terrestrial snow cover. Arctic Report Card 2023, R. L. Thoman, T. A. Moon, and M. L. Druckenmiller, Eds., https://doi.org/10.25923/xqwa-h543.
(Note: Each essay has a unique DOI assigned to it)
Media Contact Information
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Banner Photograph
Sockeye salmon in the Russian River, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2018 (credit: Ryan Hagerty, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USA)
Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA/OAR. Use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
November 29, 2023