Climate change and its impacts on the arctic environment (scientific paper)

• Main Author: Gunter Weller
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research, University of Alaska 2001
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change; Global warming; Ice; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; permafrost; Polar Research; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2369; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002369/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2369&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Regional assessments of climate change and its impacts are a high priority in the international programs on global change research. In the Arctic, climate models indicate an amplification of the global greenhouse warming, but the observed high-latitude climate trends over the last few decades are much more regional and patchy than predicted by the models. While considerable uncertainties remain in the long-term prediction of change there is some agreement between model results and observed trends by season on shorter time scales. The warming observed over the landmasses of the Arctic over the last few decades is matched by corresponding observed decreases in snow cover and glacier mass balances, by thawing of the permafrost, and by reductions in sea ice extent and thickness. The available evidence strongly suggests that the observed decrease in Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent is related to anthropogenic global warming. While uncertainties exist about the future, climate change in the Arctic during the past few decades can be shown to have had major impacts already on the arctic environment which will become much more pronounced if present trends continue.