Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline
Arctic sea ice has been declining over past several decades with the largest ice loss occurring in summer. This implies a strengthening of the sea ice seasonal cycle. Here, we examine global ocean salinity response to such changes of Arctic sea ice using simulations wherein we impose a radiative hea...
Published in: | Climate Dynamics |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_24780 2024-04-28T08:05:50+00:00 Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline Li, Hui (author) Fedorov, Alexey V. (author) 2021-12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 en eng Climate Dynamics--Clim Dyn--0930-7575--1432-0894 articles:24780 doi:10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 ark:/85065/d7v98cjr Copyright 2021 Springer Nature. article Text 2021 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 2024-04-04T17:32:42Z Arctic sea ice has been declining over past several decades with the largest ice loss occurring in summer. This implies a strengthening of the sea ice seasonal cycle. Here, we examine global ocean salinity response to such changes of Arctic sea ice using simulations wherein we impose a radiative heat imbalance at the sea ice surface, inducing a sea ice decline comparable to the observed. The imposed perturbation leads to enhanced seasonal melting and a rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice within the first 5-10 years. We then observe a gradual freshening of the upper Arctic ocean that continues for about a century. The freshening is most pronounced within the central Arctic, including the Beaufort gyre, and is attributed to excess surface freshwater associated with the stronger seasonal sea ice melting, as well as a greater upper-ocean freshwater storage due to changes in ocean circulation. The freshening of the Nordic Seas can also occur via a distillation-like process in which denser saline waters with increased salinity are exported to the subtropical/tropical North Atlantic by meridional overturning circulation. Thus, enhanced seasonal sea ice melting in a warmer climate can lead to a persistent Arctic freshening with large impacts on the global salinity distribution. 1844590 Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Climate Dynamics 57 11-12 2995 3013 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
Arctic sea ice has been declining over past several decades with the largest ice loss occurring in summer. This implies a strengthening of the sea ice seasonal cycle. Here, we examine global ocean salinity response to such changes of Arctic sea ice using simulations wherein we impose a radiative heat imbalance at the sea ice surface, inducing a sea ice decline comparable to the observed. The imposed perturbation leads to enhanced seasonal melting and a rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice within the first 5-10 years. We then observe a gradual freshening of the upper Arctic ocean that continues for about a century. The freshening is most pronounced within the central Arctic, including the Beaufort gyre, and is attributed to excess surface freshwater associated with the stronger seasonal sea ice melting, as well as a greater upper-ocean freshwater storage due to changes in ocean circulation. The freshening of the Nordic Seas can also occur via a distillation-like process in which denser saline waters with increased salinity are exported to the subtropical/tropical North Atlantic by meridional overturning circulation. Thus, enhanced seasonal sea ice melting in a warmer climate can lead to a persistent Arctic freshening with large impacts on the global salinity distribution. 1844590 |
author2 |
Li, Hui (author) Fedorov, Alexey V. (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
spellingShingle |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
title_short |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
title_full |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
title_fullStr |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
title_full_unstemmed |
Persistent freshening of the Arctic Ocean and changes in the North Atlantic salinity caused by Arctic sea ice decline |
title_sort |
persistent freshening of the arctic ocean and changes in the north atlantic salinity caused by arctic sea ice decline |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_relation |
Climate Dynamics--Clim Dyn--0930-7575--1432-0894 articles:24780 doi:10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 ark:/85065/d7v98cjr |
op_rights |
Copyright 2021 Springer Nature. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05850-5 |
container_title |
Climate Dynamics |
container_volume |
57 |
container_issue |
11-12 |
container_start_page |
2995 |
op_container_end_page |
3013 |
_version_ |
1797575634670583808 |