http://www.dw.com/en/arctic-warmer-than-much-of-europe-is-a-worrying-sign-of-climate-change/a-42759475

Record cold and blizzards in temperate zones are usually a snarky delight for climate change denialists, but all that cold is often forced south from the poles by drastic and unexpected changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation, particularly kinks in the jet stream.

There are unseasonable snows in places like Rome, Moscow and Malta, but there is also open water at Cape Morris Jessup (extreme N Greenland, one of the coldest places in the Arctic) and below-freezing air temperature at the pole itself.

“It’s really quite remarkable for February, when it’s dark permanently,” said Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist for the Danish Meteorological Institute, which has been mapping average temperatures in the far northern Arctic.
“It’s never been this high at this time of year,” Mottram told DW. “It’s never been this warm. It’s really, really unprecedented, I would say.

“With the circulation and weather patterns in the Arctic “going almost backwards,” according to Mottram, it’s a compelling — albeit worrying — time for researchers on the frontline of climate change.
“It’s very interesting being an Arctic scientist at the moment,” she says. “But sometimes you really wish it would be a little more boring.”