Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming
Climate model projections of future climate change exhibit a robust increase in Arctic precipitation, which invokes an array of climate effects. Idealized climate model simulations with artificially increased Arctic precipitation rates exhibit cooling of near-surface atmospheric temperatures and sea...
Published in: | Oceanography |
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Language: | English |
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2018
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/81359202/31_2_bintanja.pdf |
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f 2024-06-23T07:45:06+00:00 Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming Bintanja, Richard Katsman, Caroline A. Selten, Frank M. 2018 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/81359202/31_2_bintanja.pdf eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Bintanja , R , Katsman , C A & Selten , F M 2018 , ' Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming ' , Oceanography , vol. 31 , no. 2 , pp. 118-125 . https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 Arctic precipitation sea ice melt article 2018 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 2024-05-27T16:25:09Z Climate model projections of future climate change exhibit a robust increase in Arctic precipitation, which invokes an array of climate effects. Idealized climate model simulations with artificially increased Arctic precipitation rates exhibit cooling of near-surface atmospheric temperatures and sea ice expansion. We show here that this cooling cannot be attributed to increased surface albedo from fresh snow and less absorption of solar radiation by sea ice, but rather to a reduction in upward oceanic heat flux. This reduction in heat flux is due to increased precipitation that leads to fresher ocean surface waters and, hence, to more stable stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean. This stratification results in cooling of the ocean surface and warming of deeper ocean layers. The simulations show that sea ice expansion and surface cooling peak in the Barents Sea, a region that is very sensitive to changes in mixed layer depth, which decreases considerably there. In the context of a warming Arctic, with concurrent 50% increases in precipitation in 2100, this negative feedback is estimated to slow down projected RCP8.5 Arctic warming by up to 2.0°C in winter and sea ice retreat by a maximum of 11% in autumn, although seasonal variations are considerable. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea Climate change Sea ice University of Groningen research database Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea Oceanography 31 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic precipitation sea ice melt |
spellingShingle |
Arctic precipitation sea ice melt Bintanja, Richard Katsman, Caroline A. Selten, Frank M. Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
topic_facet |
Arctic precipitation sea ice melt |
description |
Climate model projections of future climate change exhibit a robust increase in Arctic precipitation, which invokes an array of climate effects. Idealized climate model simulations with artificially increased Arctic precipitation rates exhibit cooling of near-surface atmospheric temperatures and sea ice expansion. We show here that this cooling cannot be attributed to increased surface albedo from fresh snow and less absorption of solar radiation by sea ice, but rather to a reduction in upward oceanic heat flux. This reduction in heat flux is due to increased precipitation that leads to fresher ocean surface waters and, hence, to more stable stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean. This stratification results in cooling of the ocean surface and warming of deeper ocean layers. The simulations show that sea ice expansion and surface cooling peak in the Barents Sea, a region that is very sensitive to changes in mixed layer depth, which decreases considerably there. In the context of a warming Arctic, with concurrent 50% increases in precipitation in 2100, this negative feedback is estimated to slow down projected RCP8.5 Arctic warming by up to 2.0°C in winter and sea ice retreat by a maximum of 11% in autumn, although seasonal variations are considerable. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bintanja, Richard Katsman, Caroline A. Selten, Frank M. |
author_facet |
Bintanja, Richard Katsman, Caroline A. Selten, Frank M. |
author_sort |
Bintanja, Richard |
title |
Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
title_short |
Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
title_full |
Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
title_fullStr |
Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming |
title_sort |
increased arctic precipitation slows down sea ice melt and surface warming |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/81359202/31_2_bintanja.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea |
genre |
albedo Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea Climate change Sea ice |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Barents Sea Climate change Sea ice |
op_source |
Bintanja , R , Katsman , C A & Selten , F M 2018 , ' Increased Arctic Precipitation Slows Down Sea Ice Melt and Surface Warming ' , Oceanography , vol. 31 , no. 2 , pp. 118-125 . https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/c637f978-b36b-4525-a3c0-a40852ad124f |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.204 |
container_title |
Oceanography |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1802651383673913344 |