Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat
The rapid polar sea ice retreat and its drivers are challenging and still unresolved questions in climate change research. In particular, the relationship between near-surface wind speed and sea ice extent remains unclear for two main reasons: (1) observed wind speeds over Polar Regions are very spa...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 https://doaj.org/article/d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 2023-09-05T13:15:14+02:00 Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat Ramdane Alkama Ernest N Koffi Stephen J Vavrus Thomas Diehl Jennifer Ann Francis Julienne Stroeve Giovanni Forzieri Timo Vihma Alessandro Cescatti 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 https://doaj.org/article/d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 124022 (2020) polar sea ice wind speed poleward transfer of heat and moisture thermal dynamic turbulent and radiative local vertical fluxes large-scale horizontal fluxes Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 2023-08-13T00:37:14Z The rapid polar sea ice retreat and its drivers are challenging and still unresolved questions in climate change research. In particular, the relationship between near-surface wind speed and sea ice extent remains unclear for two main reasons: (1) observed wind speeds over Polar Regions are very sparse, and (2) simulated winds by climate models are dependent on subjective parameterizations of boundary layer stratification, ultimately leading to large uncertainty. Here, we use observation-based data (passive microwave sea ice concentration and six different reanalysis datasets) together with output from 26 climate models (from the CMIP5 archive) to quantify the relationships between near-surface wind speed and sea ice concentration over the past 40 years. We find strong inverse relationships between near-surface wind speed and sea ice concentration that are consistent among the six reanalysis datasets. The poleward wind component is particularly increasing in years of reduced sea ice concentration, which contributes to the enhancement of the atmospheric (surface oceanic) poleward heat flux by up to 24 ± 1% (29 ± 2%) in the Arctic and 37 ± 3% (51 ± 3%) in the Antarctic seas, therefore boosting the impact of polar sea ice loss and contributing to polar amplification of climate warming. In addition, our results show a marginal contribution of the dynamical (pushing/opening/compacting) effects of wind on sea ice compared to the thermodynamic effects which in turn play a lower role than the associated change in local surface Autumn–Winter turbulent and Spring–Summer radiative fluxes. Climate models generally produce similar results but with lower magnitude, and one model even simulates the opposite relationship wind/sea-ice. Given the rapid changes in polar climate and the potential impacts on the mid-latitudes, it is urgent that model developments make use of evidence from satellite observations and reanalysis datasets to reduce uncertainties in the representation of relationships between polar winds and sea ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Climate change Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic Environmental Research Letters 15 12 124022 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
polar sea ice wind speed poleward transfer of heat and moisture thermal dynamic turbulent and radiative local vertical fluxes large-scale horizontal fluxes Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
polar sea ice wind speed poleward transfer of heat and moisture thermal dynamic turbulent and radiative local vertical fluxes large-scale horizontal fluxes Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Ramdane Alkama Ernest N Koffi Stephen J Vavrus Thomas Diehl Jennifer Ann Francis Julienne Stroeve Giovanni Forzieri Timo Vihma Alessandro Cescatti Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
topic_facet |
polar sea ice wind speed poleward transfer of heat and moisture thermal dynamic turbulent and radiative local vertical fluxes large-scale horizontal fluxes Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
The rapid polar sea ice retreat and its drivers are challenging and still unresolved questions in climate change research. In particular, the relationship between near-surface wind speed and sea ice extent remains unclear for two main reasons: (1) observed wind speeds over Polar Regions are very sparse, and (2) simulated winds by climate models are dependent on subjective parameterizations of boundary layer stratification, ultimately leading to large uncertainty. Here, we use observation-based data (passive microwave sea ice concentration and six different reanalysis datasets) together with output from 26 climate models (from the CMIP5 archive) to quantify the relationships between near-surface wind speed and sea ice concentration over the past 40 years. We find strong inverse relationships between near-surface wind speed and sea ice concentration that are consistent among the six reanalysis datasets. The poleward wind component is particularly increasing in years of reduced sea ice concentration, which contributes to the enhancement of the atmospheric (surface oceanic) poleward heat flux by up to 24 ± 1% (29 ± 2%) in the Arctic and 37 ± 3% (51 ± 3%) in the Antarctic seas, therefore boosting the impact of polar sea ice loss and contributing to polar amplification of climate warming. In addition, our results show a marginal contribution of the dynamical (pushing/opening/compacting) effects of wind on sea ice compared to the thermodynamic effects which in turn play a lower role than the associated change in local surface Autumn–Winter turbulent and Spring–Summer radiative fluxes. Climate models generally produce similar results but with lower magnitude, and one model even simulates the opposite relationship wind/sea-ice. Given the rapid changes in polar climate and the potential impacts on the mid-latitudes, it is urgent that model developments make use of evidence from satellite observations and reanalysis datasets to reduce uncertainties in the representation of relationships between polar winds and sea ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ramdane Alkama Ernest N Koffi Stephen J Vavrus Thomas Diehl Jennifer Ann Francis Julienne Stroeve Giovanni Forzieri Timo Vihma Alessandro Cescatti |
author_facet |
Ramdane Alkama Ernest N Koffi Stephen J Vavrus Thomas Diehl Jennifer Ann Francis Julienne Stroeve Giovanni Forzieri Timo Vihma Alessandro Cescatti |
author_sort |
Ramdane Alkama |
title |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
title_short |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
title_full |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
title_fullStr |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
title_sort |
wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 https://doaj.org/article/d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Climate change Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Climate change Sea ice |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 124022 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/d106e3c6a5bd454b8f77708b6ccfea51 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc379 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
124022 |
_version_ |
1776197053655810048 |