Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice
The Arctic marine environment is undergoing a transition from thick multi-year to first-year sea-ice cover with coincident lengthening of the melt season. Such changes are evident in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait-Labrador Sea (BDL) region where melt onset has occurred ~8 days decade−1 earlier from 197...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b887c1c3f36f48fbae532ec01dfe654c 2023-05-15T13:29:34+02:00 Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice Thomas J. Ballinger Edward Hanna Richard J. Hall Thomas E. Cropper Jeffrey Miller Mads H. Ribergaard James E. Overland Jacob L. Høyer 2018-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.30 https://doaj.org/article/b887c1c3f36f48fbae532ec01dfe654c EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305517000301/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.30 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/b887c1c3f36f48fbae532ec01dfe654c Annals of Glaciology, Vol 59, Pp 181-190 (2018) atmosphere/ice/ocean interactions climate change sea ice Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.30 2023-03-12T01:31:55Z The Arctic marine environment is undergoing a transition from thick multi-year to first-year sea-ice cover with coincident lengthening of the melt season. Such changes are evident in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait-Labrador Sea (BDL) region where melt onset has occurred ~8 days decade−1 earlier from 1979 to 2015. A series of anomalously early events has occurred since the mid-1990s, overlapping a period of increased upper-air ridging across Greenland and the northwestern North Atlantic. We investigate an extreme early melt event observed in spring 2013. (~6σ below the 1981–2010 melt climatology), with respect to preceding sub-seasonal mid-tropospheric circulation conditions as described by a daily Greenland Blocking Index (GBI). The 40-days prior to the 2013 BDL melt onset are characterized by a persistent, strong 500 hPa anticyclone over the region (GBI >+1 on >75% of days). This circulation pattern advected warm air from northeastern Canada and the northwestern Atlantic poleward onto the thin, first-year sea ice and caused melt ~50 days earlier than normal. The episodic increase in the ridging atmospheric pattern near western Greenland as in 2013, exemplified by large positive GBI values, is an important recent process impacting the atmospheric circulation over a North Atlantic cryosphere undergoing accelerated regional climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Davis Strait Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Greenland Annals of Glaciology 59 76pt2 181 190 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
atmosphere/ice/ocean interactions climate change sea ice Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
atmosphere/ice/ocean interactions climate change sea ice Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Thomas J. Ballinger Edward Hanna Richard J. Hall Thomas E. Cropper Jeffrey Miller Mads H. Ribergaard James E. Overland Jacob L. Høyer Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
topic_facet |
atmosphere/ice/ocean interactions climate change sea ice Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
The Arctic marine environment is undergoing a transition from thick multi-year to first-year sea-ice cover with coincident lengthening of the melt season. Such changes are evident in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait-Labrador Sea (BDL) region where melt onset has occurred ~8 days decade−1 earlier from 1979 to 2015. A series of anomalously early events has occurred since the mid-1990s, overlapping a period of increased upper-air ridging across Greenland and the northwestern North Atlantic. We investigate an extreme early melt event observed in spring 2013. (~6σ below the 1981–2010 melt climatology), with respect to preceding sub-seasonal mid-tropospheric circulation conditions as described by a daily Greenland Blocking Index (GBI). The 40-days prior to the 2013 BDL melt onset are characterized by a persistent, strong 500 hPa anticyclone over the region (GBI >+1 on >75% of days). This circulation pattern advected warm air from northeastern Canada and the northwestern Atlantic poleward onto the thin, first-year sea ice and caused melt ~50 days earlier than normal. The episodic increase in the ridging atmospheric pattern near western Greenland as in 2013, exemplified by large positive GBI values, is an important recent process impacting the atmospheric circulation over a North Atlantic cryosphere undergoing accelerated regional climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas J. Ballinger Edward Hanna Richard J. Hall Thomas E. Cropper Jeffrey Miller Mads H. Ribergaard James E. Overland Jacob L. Høyer |
author_facet |
Thomas J. Ballinger Edward Hanna Richard J. Hall Thomas E. Cropper Jeffrey Miller Mads H. Ribergaard James E. Overland Jacob L. Høyer |
author_sort |
Thomas J. Ballinger |
title |
Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
title_short |
Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
title_full |
Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
title_fullStr |
Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
title_sort |
anomalous blocking over greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.30 https://doaj.org/article/b887c1c3f36f48fbae532ec01dfe654c |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Canada Greenland |
genre |
Annals of Glaciology Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Davis Strait Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Annals of Glaciology Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Davis Strait Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Annals of Glaciology, Vol 59, Pp 181-190 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305517000301/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2017.30 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/b887c1c3f36f48fbae532ec01dfe654c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.30 |
container_title |
Annals of Glaciology |
container_volume |
59 |
container_issue |
76pt2 |
container_start_page |
181 |
op_container_end_page |
190 |
_version_ |
1766001298584371200 |