The impact of lower sea-ice extent on Arctic greenhouse-gas exchange

In September 2012, Arctic sea-ice extent plummeted to a new record low: two times lower than the 1979-2000 average. Often, record lows in sea-ice cover are hailed as an example of climate change impacts in the Arctic. Less apparent, however, are the implications of reduced sea-ice cover in the Arcti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Climate Change
Main Authors: Parmentier, Frans-Jan, Christensen, Torben, Sorensen, Lise Lotte, Rysgaard, Soren, McGuire, A. David, Miller, Paul, Walker, Donald A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2013
Subjects:
Physical Geography
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Climate change
Sea ice
Online Access:https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3932293
https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE1784
Description
Summary:In September 2012, Arctic sea-ice extent plummeted to a new record low: two times lower than the 1979-2000 average. Often, record lows in sea-ice cover are hailed as an example of climate change impacts in the Arctic. Less apparent, however, are the implications of reduced sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean for marine-atmosphere CO2 exchange. Sea-ice decline has been connected to increasing air temperatures at high latitudes. Temperature is a key controlling factor in the terrestrial exchange of CO2 and methane, and therefore the greenhouse-gas balance of the Arctic. Despite the large potential for feedbacks, many studies do not connect the diminishing sea-ice extent with changes in the interaction of the marine and terrestrial Arctic with the atmosphere. In this Review, we assess how current understanding of the Arctic Ocean and high-latitude ecosystems can be used to predict the impact of a lower sea-ice cover on Arctic greenhouse-gas exchange.

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