Strong and regionally distinct links between ice‐retreat timing and phytoplankton production in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract The authors examine five recent reanalysis products [NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), Japanese 25-year Reanalysis Project (JRA-25), Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim), and Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR)] for 1) trends in near-surface radiation fluxes, air temperature, and humidity, which are important indicators of changes within the Arctic Ocean and also influence sea ice and ocean conditions, and 2) fidelity of these atmospheric fields and effects for an extreme event: namely, the 2007 ice retreat. An analysis of trends over the Arctic for the past decade (2000–09) shows that reanalysis solutions have large spreads, particularly for downwelling shortwave radiation. In many cases, the differences in significant trends between the five reanalysis products are comparable to the estimated trend within a particular product. These discrepancies make it difficult to establish a consensus on likely changes occurring in the Arctic solely based on results from reanalyses fields. Regarding the 2007 ice retreat event, comparisons with remotely sensed estimates of downwelling radiation observations against these reanalysis products present an ambiguity. Remotely sensed observations from a study cited herewith suggest a large increase in downwelling summertime shortwave radiation and decrease in downwelling summertime longwave radiation from 2006 and 2007. On the contrary, the reanalysis products show only small gains in summertime shortwave radiation, if any; however, all the products show increases in downwelling longwave radiation. Thus, agreement within reanalysis fields needs to be further checked against observations to assess possible biases common to all products.

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Early ice retreat and ocean warming may induce copepod biogeographic boundary shifts in the Arctic Ocean

Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans ◽

10.1002/2016jc011784 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 121 (8) ◽

pp. 6137-6158 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Zhixuan Feng ◽

Rubao Ji ◽

Robert G. Campbell ◽

Carin J. Ashjian ◽

Jinlun Zhang

Keyword(s):

Arctic Ocean ◽

Ocean Warming ◽

The Arctic ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Ice Retreat

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Contributions of advection and melting processes to the decline in sea ice in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-13-1423-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 1423-1439 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Haibo Bi ◽

Qinghua Yang ◽

Xi Liang ◽

Liang Zhang ◽

Yunhe Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Melting Process ◽

The Arctic ◽

Positive Trend ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Ice Retreat ◽

The Mean ◽

Sea Ice Retreat

Abstract. The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean (PA, hereafter) is a region sensitive to climate change. Given the alarming changes in sea ice cover during recent years, knowledge of sea ice loss with respect to ice advection and melting processes has become critical. With satellite-derived products from the National Snow and Ice Center (NSIDC), a 38-year record (1979–2016) of the loss in sea ice area in summer within the Pacific-Arctic (PA) sector due to the two processes is obtained. The average sea ice outflow from the PA to the Atlantic-Arctic (AA) Ocean during the summer season (June–September) reaches 0.173×106 km2, which corresponds to approximately 34 % of the mean annual export (October to September). Over the investigated period, a positive trend of 0.004×106 km2 yr−1 is also observed for the outflow field in summer. The mean estimate of sea ice retreat within the PA associated with summer melting is 1.66×106 km2, with a positive trend of 0.053×106 km2 yr−1. As a result, the increasing trends of ice retreat caused by outflow and melting together contribute to a stronger decrease in sea ice coverage within the PA (0.057×106 km2 yr−1) in summer. In percentage terms, the melting process accounts for 90.4 % of the sea ice retreat in the PA in summer, whereas the remaining 9.6 % is explained by the outflow process, on average. Moreover, our analysis suggests that the connections are relatively strong (R=0.63), moderate (R=-0.46), and weak (R=-0.24) between retreat of sea ice and the winds associated with the dipole anomaly (DA), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Arctic Oscillation (AO), respectively. The DA participates by impacting both the advection (R=0.74) and melting (R=0.55) processes, whereas the NAO affects the melting process (R=-0.46).

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Nitrous oxide and methane in a changing Arctic Ocean

AMBIO ◽

10.1007/s13280-021-01633-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew P. Rees ◽

Hermann W. Bange ◽

Damian L. Arévalo-Martínez ◽

Yuri Artioli ◽

Dawn M. Ashby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Trace Gases ◽

Gas Production ◽

The Arctic ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Ice Retreat ◽

Arctic Atmosphere ◽

Physical And Chemical

AbstractHuman activities are changing the Arctic environment at an unprecedented rate resulting in rapid warming, freshening, sea ice retreat and ocean acidification of the Arctic Ocean. Trace gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) play important roles in both the atmospheric reactivity and radiative budget of the Arctic and thus have a high potential to influence the region’s climate. However, little is known about how these rapid physical and chemical changes will impact the emissions of major climate-relevant trace gases from the Arctic Ocean. The combined consequences of these stressors present a complex combination of environmental changes which might impact on trace gas production and their subsequent release to the Arctic atmosphere. Here we present our current understanding of nitrous oxide and methane cycling in the Arctic Ocean and its relevance for regional and global atmosphere and climate and offer our thoughts on how this might change over coming decades.

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