The Arctic isn't doing so hot. That’s because it is, in fact, too hot. It’s warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the planet, which is setting off vicious feedback loops that accelerate change. Ice, for instance, is more reflective than soil, so when it melts, the region absorbs more solar energy. More dark vegetation is growing in northern lands, absorbing still more of the sun’s heat. And when permafrost thaws, it releases gobs of greenhouse gases, which further warm the climate.

北极并没有这么热。那是因为，事实上，它太热了。它的变暖速度至少是地球其他地区的两倍，这引发了加速变化的恶性反馈循环。例如，冰的反射性比土壤强，所以当它融化时，该地区吸收更多的太阳能。更多的深色植被生长在北方的土地上，吸收更多的太阳热量。当永久冻土融化时，它会释放出大量温室气体，进一步使气候变暖。

The Arctic has gone so bizarro that lightning—a warm-weather phenomenon most common in the tropics—is now striking near the North Pole. And according to new modeling, the electrical bombardment of the region will only get worse. By the end of the century, the number of lightning strikes across the Arctic could more than double, which may initiate a shocking cascade of knock-on effects—namely, more wildfires and more warming. “The Arctic is a rapidly changing place, and this is an aspect of the transformation that I'm not sure has gotten a whole lot of attention, but it's actually really consequential,” says UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, who wasn’t involved in the research.

北极变得如此怪异，以至于闪电——热带地区最常见的温暖天气现象——现在也出现在北极附近。根据新的模型，该区域的电轰击只会变得更糟。到本世纪末，北极地区的雷击次数可能会增加一倍以上，这可能会引发一系列令人震惊的连锁反应——即更多的野火和更严重的气候变暖。加州大学洛杉矶分校的气候科学家丹尼尔·斯温(Daniel Swain)没有参与这项研究，他说:“北极是一个迅速变化的地方，我不确定这种变化是否得到了很多关注，但它实际上是非常重要的。”

To make thunderstorms you need a lot of heat. When the sun warms up the land, hot air and moisture rise in the atmosphere. Simultaneously, cold air in the system sinks. This creates a swirling mass known as a deep convective cloud, which in turn creates electrical charges that grow into lightning.

制造雷暴需要大量的热量。当太阳使大地升温时，大气中的热空气和湿气上升。同时，系统中的冷空气下沉。这就产生了一种被称为深对流云的漩涡状物质，它反过来又产生电荷，形成闪电。

That’s normal in the tropics, where there’s plenty of heat to go around, but the Arctic should be cold enough to better resist this large-scale rising of hot air. No longer, apparently. “With surface warming, you will have more energy to push air into the high latitude,” says UC Irvine climate scientist Yang Chen, lead author on a new paper in Nature Climate Changedescribing the modeling.

这在热带地区很正常，因为那里有足够的热量，但北极应该足够冷，可以更好地抵御这种大规模的热空气上升。显然，北极不再是这样了。加州大学欧文分校气候科学家杨晨说:“随着地表变暖，将有更多的能量将空气推向高纬度地区。”杨晨是《自然气候变化》杂志上一篇描述该模型的新论文中的主要作者。