Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover
The seasonal cycle in Arctic sea ice extent is asymmetric. Its amplitude has grown in recent decades as the ice has retreated more rapidly in summer than in winter. These seasonal disparities have typically been attributed to different physical factors operating during different seasons. Here we sho...
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American Geophysical Union
2010
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Online Access: | https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/1/Eisenman2010p11273Geophys_Res_Lett.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558 |
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:19835 2023-05-15T14:24:38+02:00 Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover Eisenman, Ian 2010-08-19 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/1/Eisenman2010p11273Geophys_Res_Lett.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558 en eng American Geophysical Union https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/1/Eisenman2010p11273Geophys_Res_Lett.pdf Eisenman, Ian (2010) Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters, 37 . Art. No. L16501. ISSN 0094-8276. doi:10.1029/2010GL043741. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558> other Article PeerReviewed 2010 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043741 2021-11-11T18:45:14Z The seasonal cycle in Arctic sea ice extent is asymmetric. Its amplitude has grown in recent decades as the ice has retreated more rapidly in summer than in winter. These seasonal disparities have typically been attributed to different physical factors operating during different seasons. Here we show instead that the seasonal asymmetries in Arctic sea ice extent are a geometric consequence of the distribution of continents. Coastlines block southward ice extension during winter, thereby muting changes in ice extent, but they have relatively little effect at the time of summer minimum extent. We suggest that the latitude of the Arctic sea ice edge, averaged zonally over locations where it is free to migrate, is the most readily interpretable quantity to describe the Northern Hemisphere sea ice cover. We find that the zonal-mean sea ice edge latitude during the 1978–present era of satellite measurements has been following an approximately sinusoidal seasonal cycle that has been migrating northward at an approximately annually constant rate of 8 km/year. These results suggest a change in perspective of the most critical quantities for understanding changes in Arctic sea ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Sea ice Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Arctic Geophysical Research Letters 37 16 n/a n/a |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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English |
description |
The seasonal cycle in Arctic sea ice extent is asymmetric. Its amplitude has grown in recent decades as the ice has retreated more rapidly in summer than in winter. These seasonal disparities have typically been attributed to different physical factors operating during different seasons. Here we show instead that the seasonal asymmetries in Arctic sea ice extent are a geometric consequence of the distribution of continents. Coastlines block southward ice extension during winter, thereby muting changes in ice extent, but they have relatively little effect at the time of summer minimum extent. We suggest that the latitude of the Arctic sea ice edge, averaged zonally over locations where it is free to migrate, is the most readily interpretable quantity to describe the Northern Hemisphere sea ice cover. We find that the zonal-mean sea ice edge latitude during the 1978–present era of satellite measurements has been following an approximately sinusoidal seasonal cycle that has been migrating northward at an approximately annually constant rate of 8 km/year. These results suggest a change in perspective of the most critical quantities for understanding changes in Arctic sea ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eisenman, Ian |
spellingShingle |
Eisenman, Ian Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
author_facet |
Eisenman, Ian |
author_sort |
Eisenman, Ian |
title |
Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
title_short |
Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
title_full |
Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
title_fullStr |
Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover |
title_sort |
geographic muting of changes in the arctic sea ice cover |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/1/Eisenman2010p11273Geophys_Res_Lett.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/19835/1/Eisenman2010p11273Geophys_Res_Lett.pdf Eisenman, Ian (2010) Geographic muting of changes in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters, 37 . Art. No. L16501. ISSN 0094-8276. doi:10.1029/2010GL043741. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20100908-131357558> |
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other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043741 |
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Geophysical Research Letters |
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37 |
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16 |
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1766297067155619840 |