A historic May heat wave pushed Greenland’s ice melt to 17 times its average rate and sent Iceland’s temperatures soaring to record-breaking highs, raising urgent alarms about Arctic climate vulnerability.

Temperatures across Iceland were more than 13°C above the 1991–2020 May average, with 84% of the country’s weather stations registering record-breaking highs.

The World Weather Attribution (WWA) reported that the hottest day in eastern Greenland was 3.9°C warmer than preindustrial levels, and such extreme temperatures would have occurred only once in a century without human-driven climate change. However, due to global warming, such events are now 40 times more likely and about 3°C hotter.

The impacts were severe: Iceland experienced road damage from bituminous bleeding, while Greenland’s breaking sea ice threatened traditional activities such as hunting and fishing. On May 15, temperatures in Iceland surpassed 26°C — extremely rare — with a record 26.6°C measured in Egilsstaðir.

WWA warns that these Arctic regions, built for cold climates, are increasingly at risk. As global temperatures rise toward a projected 2.6°C increase, such extreme weather events could become more common and intense. Iceland has begun updating its climate adaptation plans, while Greenland is also starting to treat heat as a public health issue.

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