Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been decreasing since at least the late 1970s. The atmospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere can respond strongly to changes in sea ice, leading to "changes in hemispheric wind patterns and the distribution of tropospheric temperatures and sea level pressures". This review analyzes several recent publications in order to summarize the known "physical processes that contribute to sea ice-atmosphere linkage", observational evidence that such linkage has led to ongoing climate change", and projections for future ice-forced changes in climate. On the basis of these studies, this paper also demonstrates the preliminary feasibility of using sea ice conditions as a climate prediction tool.
The Arctic is presently in a state of great flux. Since reliable satellite estimates first became available in the late 1970s, measured aerial sea ice extent has declined by about 10 percent every decade, and an acceleration of this trend has become evident in the past 5-10 years. Roughly half of the decline to date has been linked to anthropogenic forcing (namely greenhouse gas emissions), where the rest has been attributed to the variability of the ice-atmosphere system. …show more content…
As greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, anthropogenic forcing is expected to dominate the ice-atmosphere system and lead to the development of a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean within 15-50 years. The presence of widespread open water in the Arctic Ocean during summer is already taking its toll on the general atmospheric circulation and subsequently altering regional climate regimes in the Northern
The Arctic is presently in a state of great flux. Since reliable satellite estimates first became available in the late 1970s, measured aerial sea ice extent has declined by about 10 percent every decade, and an acceleration of this trend has become evident in the past 5-10 years. Roughly half of the decline to date has been linked to anthropogenic forcing (namely greenhouse gas emissions), where the rest has been attributed to the variability of the ice-atmosphere system. …show more content…
As greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, anthropogenic forcing is expected to dominate the ice-atmosphere system and lead to the development of a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean within 15-50 years. The presence of widespread open water in the Arctic Ocean during summer is already taking its toll on the general atmospheric circulation and subsequently altering regional climate regimes in the Northern