Has Arctic Sea Ice Loss Contributed to Increased Surface Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet?

In recent decades, the Greenland ice sheet has experienced increased surface melt. However, the underlying cause of this increased surface melting and how it relates to cryospheric changes across the Arctic remain unclear. Here it is shown that an important contributing factor is the decreasing Arct...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Climate
Main Authors: Liu, Jiping, Chen, Zhiqiang, Francis, Jennifer, Song, Mirong, Mote, Thomas, Hu, Yongyun
Other Authors: Liu, JP (reprint author), SUNY Albany, Dept Atmospher & Environm Sci, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222 USA., SUNY Albany, Dept Atmospher & Environm Sci, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222 USA., Chinese Acad Sci, State Key Lab Numer Modeling Atmospher Sci & Geop, Beijing, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Atmospher Phys, Beijing, Peoples R China., Rutgers State Univ, Dept Marine & Coastal Sci, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 USA., Univ Georgia, Dept Geog, Athens, GA 30602 USA., Peking Univ, Sch Phys, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: JOURNAL OF CLIMATE 2016
Subjects:
LEVEL RISE
CLIMATE MODELS
MASS-BALANCE
AMPLIFICATION
TEMPERATURE
IMPACTS
EXTENT
CLOUDS
TRENDS
Arctic
Greenland
Ice Sheet
Sea ice
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/437349
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0391.1
Description
Summary:In recent decades, the Greenland ice sheet has experienced increased surface melt. However, the underlying cause of this increased surface melting and how it relates to cryospheric changes across the Arctic remain unclear. Here it is shown that an important contributing factor is the decreasing Arctic sea ice. Reduced summer sea ice favors stronger and more frequent occurrences of blocking-high pressure events over Greenland. Blocking highs enhance the transport of warm, moist air over Greenland, which increases downwelling infrared radiation, contributes to increased extreme heat events, and accounts for the majority of the observed warming trends. These findings are supported by analyses of observations and reanalysis data, as well as by independent atmospheric model simulations using a state-of-the-art atmospheric model that is forced by varying only the sea ice conditions. Reduced sea ice conditions in the model favor more extensive Greenland surface melting. The authors find a positive feedback between the variability in the extent of summer Arctic sea ice and melt area of the summer Greenland ice sheet, which affects the Greenland ice sheet mass balance. This linkage may improve the projections of changes in the global sea level and thermohaline circulation. Climate Observation and Earth System Science Divisions, Climate Program Office, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce [NA15OAR4310163, NA14OAR4310216]; NSF ARCSS [1304097]; NSFC [41305097]; NASA IDS [NNX14AD98G] SCI(E) EI ARTICLE jliu26@albany.edu 9 3373-3386 29

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