The Arctic has been unusually cold in 2021, but scientists are unsure why.

The Arctic has been unusually cold in 2021, but scientists are unsure why. The average temperature for the Arctic Circle is around -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit), but in January 2021 it dropped to -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit). This means that the region experienced its coldest January on record since records began.

Although the temperature drop was an extreme one, it wasn’t a surprise. In fact, scientists had predicted that the North Pole would be unusually cold this year because of an “extreme dipole” pattern between two opposing air masses. While some places were experiencing unseasonably warm weather, others were experiencing unseasonably cool weather as a result of this pattern.

While climate change skeptics have pointed to this drop in temperature as evidence against global warming, experts say that there is no way to tell whether or not this event is linked to climate change at all without further study. What they do know is that the current dipole pattern isn’t linked to climate change and is instead part of a natural cycle known as the Arctic Oscillation.