Simpson2,7 1department of atmospheric sciences, 2college of natural science and mathematics and. This third edition of sea ice gives an insight into the very latest understanding of how sea ice is formed, how we measure and model its extent, the biology that lives within and is associated with sea ice, and the effect of climate change on its distribution. It is less dense in the solid phase than it is in the liquid phase. Projected changes in timing and extent of sea ice in the bering and chukchi seas. The 37v channel is one of the inputs to the sea ice retrieval algorithms, so this is resulting in erroneous estimates of sea ice concentration and extent. The impact of melting arctic ice, a result of climate change, has farreaching consequences for this fragile ecosystem and its inhabitants. Effects of sea ice extent and food availability on spatial.
Arctic sea ice refers to the area of the arctic ocean covered by ice. Published on may 16, 2020 may 16, 2020 by sunshinehours1 1 comment. Mar, 2017 the dramatic decline of arctic sea ice in recent decades is caused by a mixture of global warming and a natural, decadeslong atmospheric hot spot over greenland and the canadian arctic. And the 10 lowest ice extents have all been recorded since 2007. Sep 19, 2017 arctic sea ice appeared to have reached its yearly lowest extent on sept. The decline in sea ice extent during september has averaged about 8 percent over the past decade, said serreze, who is part of a cuboulder team monitoring arctic seaice conditions. Pdf, changing state of arctic sea ice across all seasons iopscience. The intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc fourth assessment report states that greenhouse gas forcing is predominantly responsible for the decline in arctic sea ice extent. The incredible decline of arctic sea ice visualized.
Problems with satellite sea ice monitoring confirmed by. After successive years of melting, the consequences are likely to be felt further afield with scientists suggesting weather patterns in the northern hemisphere may be altered. Scientists have long thought that climate change is to blame, but a new study provides more evidence for that idea. Implications of arctic sea ice decline for the earth system. Aerial surveys were conducted weekly during september and october along the southern beaufort sea coastline and barrier islands between barrow and the. Arctic sea ice extent at its lowest for at least 1500. A further decline in the area of arctic seaice will extend the navigation period and allow better accessibility by ship around the arctic basin and probably open new shipping routes. Arctic sea ice appeared to have reached its yearly lowest extent on sept. Under these low temperature conditions, salt water freezes and the cold pool formed on the lee side of st lawrence island polynya, becomes an effective large ice making factory, for the bering sea. Mar 14, 2017 by studying air current patterns, researchers determined that between 30 and 50 percent of the decline in summer sea ice in the arctic since 1979 may be due to natural processes, for the first. The arctic is facing a decline in sea ice that might equal. Apr 21, 2016 the arctic is facing a decline in sea ice that might equal the negative record of 2012 data collected by the cryosat2 satellite reveal large amounts of thin ice that are unlikely to survive the. Introduction 2 the decline in arctic sea ice during recent decades is dramatic, particularly during summer when observed extent decreased by.
Pdf the influence of declining sea ice on shipping activity. In september 2011, sea ice in the canadian arctic reached its lowest point of the year at 4. This paper provides an overview of the arctic sea ice history spanning multiple climate regimes, from the early cenozoic to present. The areal extent, concentration and thickness of sea ice in the arctic ocean and adjacent seas have strongly decreased during the recent decades, but cold, snowrich winters have been common over midlatitude land areas since 2005. The decline in thefloating sea ice cover in the arctic is one of the. The loss of arctic sea ice has myriad consequences, but one of the most troubling effects involves the overall impact of this change on the climate system as a whole. The air plays its role like an energy absorbant because of the difference between its temperature and the temperature of the water. However, with the inclusion of one short sentence, the paper manages to perpetuate misinformation on grizzlypolar bear hybridization that first appeared in a commentary essay three years ago in nature kelly et al. The arctic sea ice minimum is the day in a given year when arctic sea ice reaches its smallest extent, occurring at the end of the summer melting season, normally during september.
Waves have variable impact on sea ice in the southern ocean. Arctic sea ice shrinks to sixthlowest extent on record. Effects of arctic sea ice decline on weather and climate. Ivory gulls nest on rocky cliffs and fly out to the sea ice to fish through cracks in the ice and scavenge on top of the ice. The global impacts of rapidly disappearing arctic sea ice. A further decline in the area of arctic sea ice will extend the navigation period and allow better accessibility by ship around the arctic basin and probably open new shipping routes. The influence of declining sea ice on shipping activity in the canadian arctic. Its called, ecological consequences of seaice decline and surprisingly, polar bears are discussed only briefly. Arctic sea ice has been in a steep decline since scientists started using satellites to measure it 40 years ago. Evidence shows that the extent of arctic sea ice has declined in all months of the year. What are the consequences of arctic sea ice decline. At the south pole, sea ice around antarctica hit its lowest extent ever recorded by satellites at the end of summer in the southern hemisphere on march 3.
Apr 21, 2016 the arctic is facing a decline in sea ice that might equal the negative record of 2012 by alfred wegener institute mosaic of images of the arctic by modis. Simpson2,7 1department of atmospheric sciences, 2college of natural science and. Arctic sea ice now starts melting 11 days earlier and it starts refreezing 26 days later than it used to, on average see figure 3. Arctic sea ice data collected by dmi 18931961 hide the decline. In recent decades, sea ice in the arctic ocean has been melting faster than it refreezes in winter. An intersessional working group on the sea ice and abundance estimate was reestablished in 61st iwcsc. Endofsummer arctic sea ice extent is eighth lowest on. Nansen and amundsen basins observational system research cruise participants watch arctic sea ice in summer 2015 from a deck on the research vessel akademik tryoshnikov. Pdf after a decade with nine of the lowest arctic seaice minima on record, including the. At the end of the melt season, sea ice had contracted to 1. Pdf ecological consequences of seaice decline researchgate. This paper provides an overview of the arctic seaice history spanning multiple climate regimes, from the early cenozoic to present. Apr 07, 2017 nansen and amundsen basins observational system research cruise participants watch arctic sea ice in summer 2015 from a deck on the research vessel akademik tryoshnikov.
The arctic ocean is the mass of water positioned approximately above latitude 65 n. Another potential impact of arctic amplification is the potential to melt more of. Paleoceanographic reconstructions from a more northward location of the polar front on the north iceland margin show centennialscale. Sea ice floats for the same reason the ice in your drinking glass floats. The graph above shows arctic sea ice extent as of june 1, 2015, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply. Progress of preparation of sea ice data to investigate the. A university of alaska fairbanks study has determined that warmer water migrating from the atlantic ocean is a surprisingly powerful contributor to arctic sea ice decline. Antarctic sea ice change and variability physical and ecological.
Apr 24, 2015 in 2011 the canadian ice service cis observed the second lowest canadian arctic summer sea ice level on record since satellite mapping began in late 1978. Apr 10, 2017 at the north pole, arctic sea ice reached a record low wintertime maximum extent on march 7, 2017. Pdf the influence of declining sea ice on shipping. This copy is for your personal, non commercial use only.
Each year dmi have collected information on sea ice extend so that normally each of the months april, may, june, july and august ice extend was published. A framework for assessing the economic impacts of arctic change. The arctic is facing a decline in sea ice that might equal the negative record of 2012 data collected by the cryosat2 satellite reveal large amounts of thin ice that are unlikely to survive the. The arctic is facing a decline in sea ice that might equal the negative record of 2012 by alfred wegener institute mosaic of images of the arctic by modis. After that, we can expect the ice free period in the arctic basin to expand to three to four months a year, and eventually to five months or more. The dramatic decline of arctic sea ice in recent decades is caused by a mixture of global warming and a natural, decadeslong atmospheric hot spot over greenland and the canadian arctic. Some techniques use ensemble simulations from coupled ice.
Graphing sea ice extent in the arctic and antarctic. We investigated the relationship between sea ice conditions, food availability, and the fall distribution of polar bears ursus maritimus in terrestrial habitats of the southern beaufort sea via weekly aerial surveys in 20002005. Rapid decline of arctic sea ice a combination of climate. With continued increasing temperatures, summer icefree conditions are likely. Based on a linear extrapolation of these trends, wefind the arctic ocean will become seaice free. The sst anomalies in the barents bering sea are calculated within a fixed 400. The incredible decline of arctic sea ice visualized the. Waves have variable impact on sea ice in the southern. Over the past 20 years, the study of the frozen arctic and southern oceans and the subarctic seas has progressed at a remarkable pace. The arctic ocean has lost more than 30 percent of its summer ice cover in the last thirty years. A 2007 study found the decline to be faster than forecasted by model simulations. At the north pole, arctic sea ice reached a record low wintertime maximum extent on march 7, 2017. The online version available today 26 march did not contain the changes described by the editor in his 23 march 2018 email nor were the spelling errors fixed pdf here. Arctic sea ice declines again in 2004, according to u.
Investigation on the relationship between sea ice characteristics and antarctic minke whale abundance estimates has been treated as one of the important works to identify reasons of difference of the estimates between cpii and cpiii. By studying air current patterns, researchers determined that between 30 and 50 percent of the decline in summer sea ice in the arctic since 1979 may be due to natural processes, for the first. Sea ice news volume 3 number 3 beaucoup bering sea ice. Ice extent, thickness, drift, and duration arctic seaice cover attains its maximum seasonal extent in. Arctic sea ice melt, driven by global warming, accelerated by. The problem was initially seen in data for april 5 and all data since then are unreliable, so we have. May 30, 2018 over the last two decades, sea ice steadily increased in the southern ocean, but starting in 2016, researchers were astonished by a rapid decline. Pdf sea ice in the arctic is one of the most rapidly changing. The extent of the winter ice cover, however, had not changed appreciably until recently. May 02, 2012 i came across a number of maps showing arctic ice extend from 1893 to 1961 collected by dmi in nautisk meteorologisk aarbog. A retreat of sea ice away from the coastal nesting sites would have serious consequences. Numerical modeling of sea ice in the climate system. March and september monthly average arctic sea ice extent, 1979 2016. Errors in the supplementary data file remain, although these were identified months ago.
Critical vulnerabilities of marine and sea icebased ecosystems in. Over the last two decades, sea ice steadily increased in the southern ocean, but starting in 2016, researchers were astonished by a rapid decline. This figure shows arctic sea ice extent for the months of september and march of each year from 1979. Sea ice extent has continued to decline during september, reaching below four million square kilometers early in the month. Impacts of changing seaice conditions on arctic marine mammals. Sep 22, 2017 arctic sea ice has been in a steep decline since scientists started using satellites to measure it 40 years ago. We charted arctic sea ice for nearly every day since 1979. Arctic sea ice extent at its lowest for at least 1500 years. The observed ice extent was much lower than predicted in 2012, but in 20, it was much higher figure 2b. Ice extent, thickness, drift, and duration arctic sea ice cover attains its maximum seasonal extent in. Global sea ice extent sea ice extent global antarctic and arctic day 6 2020. The news last week that summer ice covering the arctic ocean was tied for the secondlowest extent on record is a sobering reminder that the planet is swiftly heading toward a largely ice free arctic in the warmer months, possibly as early as 2020. This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. Apr 03, 2015 the loss of arctic sea ice has myriad consequences, but one of the most troubling effects involves the overall impact of this change on the climate system as a whole.
The state of the water, calm or rough, gives two different types of ice. I came across a number of maps showing arctic ice extend from 1893 to 1961 collected by dmi in nautisk meteorologisk aarbog. The rapid decline in arctic sea ice asi extent, area and volume during recent decades is occurring before we can understand many of the. Sea ice forms a boundary between the relatively warm ocean and the cooler atmosphere.
Sep 14, 2007 the bering sea region is smaller to allow it to shift into the bering strait with little land influence. This figure shows arctic sea ice extent for the months of. Arctic sea ice melt, driven by global warming, accelerated. Sea ice cover in the arctic has shrunk to one of its smallest extents on record, bringing the days of an entirely ice free arctic during the summer a step closer the annual sea ice minimum of 5. Readers sometimes ask us, what are the reasons behind arctic sea. Section 6 is a critical evaluation of the reliability of the methods applied, followed by discussion and conclusions in sections 7 and 8. Implications of arctic sea ice decline for the earth system uma s. Although antarctic sea ice is undergoing a slight increase in overall extent, major regional. Polar bears are losing lifesustaining sea ice crucial for hunting, resting and breeding in all 19 regions of the arctic they inhabit, a study warned on wednesday as climate change pushes up.
The changes in the arctic are manifested by the decline in the sea ice, permafrost, glaciers and the greenland ice sheet stroeve et al. Primary production within the seaice zone west of the. Sep 14, 2016 polar bears are losing lifesustaining sea ice crucial for hunting, resting and breeding in all 19 regions of the arctic they inhabit, a study warned on wednesday as climate change pushes up. Sea ice declining sea ice extent has decreased sharply in all seasons, with summer sea ice declining most dramatically beyond the projections of ipcc 2007.
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