Fluctuating Atlantic inflows modulate Arctic atlantification

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Polyakov, Igor V., Ingvaldsen, Randi B., Pnyushkov, Andrey V., Bhatt, Uma S., Francis, Jennifer A., Janout, Markus, Kwok, Ronald, Skagseth, Øystein
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Barents Sea; Fram Strait; Nordic Seas; North Atlantic; Sea ice; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adh5158; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.adh5158

Enhanced warm, salty subarctic inflows drive high-latitude atlantification, which weakens oceanic stratification, amplifies heat fluxes, and reduces sea ice. In this work, we show that the atmospheric Arctic Dipole (AD) associated with anticyclonic winds over North America and cyclonic winds over Eurasia modulates inflows from the North Atlantic across the Nordic Seas. The alternating AD phases create a “switchgear mechanism.” From 2007 to 2021, this switchgear mechanism weakened northward inflows and enhanced sea-ice export across Fram Strait and increased inflows throughout the Barents Sea. By favoring stronger Arctic Ocean circulation, transferring freshwater into the Amerasian Basin, boosting stratification, and lowering oceanic heat fluxes there after 2007, AD+ contributed to slowing sea-ice loss. A transition to an AD− phase may accelerate the Arctic sea-ice decline, which would further change the Arctic climate system.