"Under typical polluted conditions in the Arctic winter and spring, the surface warming ... is probably somewhere between, I would guess, 2 and 3 degrees Fahrenheit. It's not huge but it is significant."

Making it especially significant is a "feedback" effect that can occur. Warmer temperatures "can melt the sea ice," and if that happens, the Arctic atmosphere is changed. The melting causes moisture to flow into the air, and "that will create more clouds."

The result is the additional clouds can further warm the surface.

"Of all the places that are responding to climate change, the Arctic is changing most rapidly of all," Garrett told the Deseret Morning News.

Asked if this contributes to global warming, Garrett was reluctant to say that. "But it does contribute to warming of the Arctic," he said.

That itself can have consequences.

"The Arctic has these crazy feedbacks that go on," Garrett noted. "This is an effect that we found that is contributing to this climate change in the Arctic, that had not been thought about before."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com