scholarly journals Summertime changes in climate extremes over the peripheral Arctic regions after a sudden sea ice retreat

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Delhaye ◽  
Thierry Fichefet ◽  
François Massonnet ◽  
David Docquier ◽  
Rym Msadek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Maximum Surface ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
Arctic Sea

Abstract. The retreat of Arctic sea ice is frequently considered as a possible driver of changes in climate extremes in the Arctic and possibly down to mid-latitudes. However, it is unclear how the atmosphere will respond to a near-total retreat of summer Arctic sea ice, a reality that might occur in the foreseeable future. This study explores this question by conducting sensitivity experiments with two global coupled climate models run at two different horizontal resolutions to investigate the change in temperature and precipitation extremes during summer over peripheral Arctic regions following a sudden reduction in summer Arctic sea ice cover. An increase in frequency and persistence of maximum surface air temperature is found in all peripheral Arctic regions during the summer when sea ice loss occurs. For each million km2 of Arctic sea ice extent reduction, the absolute frequency of days exceeding the surface air temperature of the climatological 90th percentile increases by ~4 % over the Svalbard area, and the duration of warm spells increases by ~1 day per month over the same region. Furthermore, we find that the 10th percentile of surface daily air temperature increases more than the 90th percentile, leading to a weakened diurnal cycle of surface air temperature. Finally, an increase in extreme precipitation, which is less robust (statistically speaking) than the increase in extreme temperatures, is found in all regions in summer. These findings suggest that a sudden retreat of summer Arctic sea ice clearly impacts the extremes in maximum surface air temperature and precipitation over the peripheral Arctic regions with the largest influence over inhabited islands such as Svalbard or Northern Canada. Nonetheless, even with a large sea ice reduction in regions close to the North Pole, the local precipitation response is relatively small compared to internal climate variability.

Gridded Arctic sea ice concentration reconstruction for the first half of the 20th century based on different proxy data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Semenov ◽  
Tatiana Matveeva
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
The North ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Ice Concentration

<p>Global warming in the recent decades has been accompanied by a rapid recline of the Arctic sea ice area most pronounced in summer (10% per decade). To understand the relative contribution of external forcing and natural variability to the modern and future sea ice area changes, it is necessary to evaluate a range of long-term variations of the Arctic sea ice area in the period before a significant increase in anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Available observational data on the spatiotemporal dynamics of Arctic sea ice until 1950s are characterized by significant gaps and uncertainties. In the recent years, there have appeared several reconstructions of the early 20<sup>th</sup> century Arctic sea ice area that filled the gaps by analogue methods or utilized combined empirical data and climate model’s output. All of them resulted in a stronger that earlier believed negative sea ice area anomaly in the 1940s concurrent with the early 20<sup>th</sup> century warming (ETCW) peak. In this study, we reconstruct the monthly average gridded sea ice concentration (SIC) in the first half of the 20th century using the relationship between the spatiotemporal features of SIC variability, surface air temperature over the Northern Hemisphere extratropical continents, sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and sea level pressure. In agreement with a few previous results, our reconstructed data also show a significant negative anomaly of the Arctic sea ice area in the middle of the 20th century, however with some 15% to 30% stronger amplitude, about 1.5 million km<sup>2</sup> in September and 0.7 million km<sup>2</sup> in March. The reconstruction demonstrates a good agreement with regional Arctic sea ice area data when available and suggests that ETWC in the Arctic has been accompanied by a concurrent sea ice area decline of a magnitude that have been exceeded only in the beginning of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</p>

scholarly journals Nonlinear Climate Responses to Increasing CO2 and Anthropogenic Aerosols Simulated by CESM1

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiechun Deng ◽  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
Haiming Xu
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Aerosol Loading ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Atmospheric CO2 and anthropogenic aerosols (AA) have increased simultaneously. Because of their opposite radiative effects, these increases may offset each other, which may lead to some nonlinear effects. Here the seasonal and regional characteristics of this nonlinear effect from the CO2 and AA forcings are investigated using the fully coupled Community Earth System Model. Results show that nonlinear effects are small in the global mean of the top-of-the-atmosphere radiative fluxes, surface air temperature, and precipitation. However, significant nonlinear effects exist over the Arctic and other extratropical regions during certain seasons. When both forcings are included, Arctic sea ice in September–November decreases less than the linear combination of the responses to the individual forcings due to a higher sea ice sensitivity to the CO2-induced warming than the sensitivity to the AA-induced cooling. This leads to less Arctic warming in the combined-forcing experiment due to reduced energy release from the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere. Some nonlinear effects on precipitation in June–August are found over East Asia, with the northward-shifted East Asian summer rain belt to oppose the CO2 effect. In December–February, the aerosol loading over Europe in the combined-forcing experiment is higher than that due to the AA forcing, resulting from CO2-induced circulation changes. The changed aerosol loading results in regional thermal responses due to aerosol direct and indirect effects, weakening the combined changes of temperature and circulation. This study highlights the need to consider nonlinear effects from historical CO2 and AA forcings in seasonal and regional climate attribution analyses.

Arctic Sea Ice Reemergence: The Role of Large-Scale Oceanic and Atmospheric Variability*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (14) ◽  
pp. 5477-5509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Bushuk ◽  
Dimitrios Giannakis ◽  
Andrew J. Majda
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Spring Sea Ice ◽  
Phase Relationships

Abstract Arctic sea ice reemergence is a phenomenon in which spring sea ice anomalies are positively correlated with fall anomalies, despite a loss of correlation over the intervening summer months. This work employs a novel data analysis algorithm for high-dimensional multivariate datasets, coupled nonlinear Laplacian spectral analysis (NLSA), to investigate the regional and temporal aspects of this reemergence phenomenon. Coupled NLSA modes of variability of sea ice concentration (SIC), sea surface temperature (SST), and sea level pressure (SLP) are studied in the Arctic sector of a comprehensive climate model and in observations. It is found that low-dimensional families of NLSA modes are able to efficiently reproduce the prominent lagged correlation features of the raw sea ice data. In both the model and observations, these families provide an SST–sea ice reemergence mechanism, in which melt season (spring) sea ice anomalies are imprinted as SST anomalies and stored over the summer months, allowing for sea ice anomalies of the same sign to reappear in the growth season (fall). The ice anomalies of each family exhibit clear phase relationships between the Barents–Kara Seas, the Labrador Sea, and the Bering Sea, three regions that compose the majority of Arctic sea ice variability. These regional phase relationships in sea ice have a natural explanation via the SLP patterns of each family, which closely resemble the Arctic Oscillation and the Arctic dipole anomaly. These SLP patterns, along with their associated geostrophic winds and surface air temperature advection, provide a large-scale teleconnection between different regions of sea ice variability. Moreover, the SLP patterns suggest another plausible ice reemergence mechanism, via their winter-to-winter regime persistence.

scholarly journals Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 881-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Cavalieri ◽  
C. L. Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Negative Trend ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Bering Sea

Abstract. Analyses of 32 yr (1979–2010) of Arctic sea ice extents and areas derived from satellite passive microwave radiometers are presented for the Northern Hemisphere as a whole and for nine Arctic regions. There is an overall negative yearly trend of −51.5 ± 4.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−4.1 ± 0.3% decade−1) in sea ice extent for the hemisphere. The yearly sea ice extent trends for the individual Arctic regions are all negative except for the Bering Sea: −3.9 ± 1.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.7 ± 2.5% decade−1) for the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan, +0.3 ± 0.8 × 103 km2 yr−1 (+1.2 ± 2.7% decade−1) for the Bering Sea, −4.4 ± 0.7 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−5.1 ± 0.9% decade−1) for Hudson Bay, −7.6 ± 1.6 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.5 ± 1.8% decade−1) for Baffin Bay/Labrador Sea, −0.5 ± 0.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−5.9 ± 3.5% decade−1) for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, −6.5 ± 1.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.6 ± 1.5% decade−1) for the Greenland Sea, −13.5 ± 2.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−9.2 ± 1.6% decade−1) for the Kara and Barents Seas, −14.6 ± 2.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−2.1 ± 0.3% decade−1) for the Arctic Ocean, and −0.9 ± 0.4 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−1.3 ± 0.5% decade−1) for the Canadian Archipelago. Similarly, the yearly trends for sea ice areas are all negative except for the Bering Sea. On a seasonal basis for both sea ice extents and areas, the largest negative trend is observed for summer with the next largest negative trend being for autumn. Both the sea ice extent and area trends vary widely by month depending on region and season. For the Northern Hemisphere as a whole, all 12 months show negative sea ice extent trends with a minimum magnitude in May and a maximum magnitude in September, whereas the corresponding sea ice area trends are smaller in magnitude and reach minimum and maximum values in March and September.

scholarly journals Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 957-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Cavalieri ◽  
C. L. Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Negative Trend ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Bering Sea

Abstract. Analyses of 32 yr (1979–2010) of Arctic sea ice extents and areas derived from satellite passive microwave radiometers are presented for the Northern Hemisphere as a whole and for nine Arctic regions. There is an overall negative yearly trend of −51.5 ± 4.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−4.1 ± 0.3% decade−1) in sea ice extent for the hemisphere. The sea ice extent trends for the individual Arctic regions are all negative except for the Bering Sea: −3.9 ± 1.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.7 ± 2.5% decade−1) for the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan, +0.3 ± 0.8 × 103 km2 yr−1 (+1.2 ± 2.7% decade−1) for the Bering Sea, −4.4 ± 0.7 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−5.1 ± 0.9% decade−1) for Hudson Bay, −7.6 ± 1.6 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.5 ± 1.8% decade−1) for Baffin Bay/Labrador Sea, −0.5 ± 0.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−5.9 ± 3.5% decade−1) for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, −6.5 ± 1.1 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−8.6 ± 1.5% decade−1) for the Greenland Sea, −13.5 ± 2.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−9.2 ± 1.6% decade−1) for the Kara and Barents Seas, −14.6 ± 2.3 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−2.1 ± 0.3% decade−1) for the Arctic Ocean, and −0.9 ± 0.4 × 103 km2 yr−1 (−1.3 ± 0.5% decade−1) for the Canadian Archipelago. Similarly, the yearly trends for sea ice areas are all negative except for the Bering Sea. On a seasonal basis for both sea ice extents and areas, the largest negative trend is observed for summer with the next largest negative trend being for autumn.

scholarly journals Ural Blocking as an Amplifier of the Arctic Sea Ice Decline in Winter

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 2639-2654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Gong ◽  
Dehai Luo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Moisture Flux ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Decline ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Sea Ice Reduction

In this paper, the lead–lag relationship between the Arctic sea ice variability over the Barents–Kara Sea (BKS) and Ural blocking (UB) in winter (DJF) ranging from 1979/80 to 2011/12 is examined. It is found that in a regressed DJF-mean field an increased UB frequency (days) corresponds to an enhanced sea ice decline over the BKS, while the high sea surface temperature over the BKS is accompanied by a significant Arctic sea ice reduction. Lagged daily regression and correlation reveal that the growth and maintenance of the UB that is related to the positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO+) through the negative east Atlantic/west Russia (EA/WR−) wave train is accompanied by an intensified negative BKS sea ice anomaly, and the BKS sea ice reduction lags the UB pattern by about four days. Because the intensified UB pattern occurs together with enhanced downward infrared radiation (IR) associated with the intensified moisture flux convergence and total column water over the BKS, the UB pattern contributes significantly to the BKS sea ice decrease on a time scale of weeks through intensified positive surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies resulting from enhanced downward IR. It is also found that the BKS sea ice decline can persistently maintain even when the UB has disappeared, thus indicating that the UB pattern is an important amplifier of the BKS sea ice reduction. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the EA/WR− wave train formed by the combined NAO+ and UB patterns is closely related to the amplified warming over the BKS through the strengthening (weakening) of mid-to-high-latitude westerly wind in the North Atlantic (Eurasia).

Impact of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) on Arctic Surface Air Temperature and Sea Ice Variability

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (24) ◽  
pp. 6573-6581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salil Mahajan ◽  
Rong Zhang ◽  
Thomas L. Delworth
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Atlantic Sector ◽  
Control Simulation ◽  
Sea Ice Decline ◽  
Arctic Sea

Abstract The simulated impact of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the low-frequency variability of the Arctic surface air temperature (SAT) and sea ice extent is studied with a 1000-year-long segment of a control simulation of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Climate Model version 2.1. The simulated AMOC variations in the control simulation are found to be significantly anticorrelated with the Arctic sea ice extent anomalies and significantly correlated with the Arctic SAT anomalies on decadal time scales in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic. The maximum anticorrelation with the Arctic sea ice extent and the maximum correlation with the Arctic SAT occur when the AMOC index leads by one year. An intensification of the AMOC is associated with a sea ice decline in the Labrador, Greenland, and Barents Seas in the control simulation, with the largest change occurring in winter. The recent declining trend in the satellite-observed sea ice extent also shows a similar pattern in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic in the winter, suggesting the possibility of a role of the AMOC in the recent Arctic sea ice decline in addition to anthropogenic greenhouse-gas-induced warming. However, in the summer, the simulated sea ice response to the AMOC in the Pacific sector of the Arctic is much weaker than the observed declining trend, indicating a stronger role for other climate forcings or variability in the recently observed summer sea ice decline in the Chukchi, Beaufort, East Siberian, and Laptev Seas.

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