Why has no new record-minimum Arctic sea-ice extent occurred since September 2012
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15547108 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer A Francis (0000-0002-7358-9296, Woodwell Climate Research Center, corresponding author), Bingyi Wu (0000-0001-8434-0739, Fudan University) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 114034-114034 |
| Publication date | 2020-10-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/abc047 |
| OpenAlex | W3092828351 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 15 |
One of the clearest indicators of human-caused climate change is the rapid decline in Arctic sea ice. The summer minimum coverage is now approximately half of its extent only 40 yr ago. Four records in the minimum extent were broken since 2000, the most recent occurring in September 2012. No new records have been set since then, however, owing to an abrupt atmospheric shift during each August/early-September that brought low sea-level pressure, cloudiness, and unfavorable wind conditions for ice reduction. While random variability could be the cause, we identify a recently increased prevalence of a characteristic large-scale atmospheric pattern over the northern hemisphere. This pattern is associated not only with anomalously low pressure over the Arctic during summer, but also with frequent heatwaves over East Asia, Scandinavia, and northern North America, as well as the tendency for a split jet stream over the continents. This jet-stream configuration has been identified as favoring extreme summer weather events in northern mid-latitudes. We propose a mechanism linking these features with diminishing spring snow cover on northern-hemisphere continents that acts as a negative feedback on the loss of Arctic sea ice during summer
Antarctic sea ice · Arctic · Arctic geoengineering · Arctic ice pack · Arctic sea ice decline · Climate change · Climatology · Cryosphere · Geography · Jet (fluid · Jet stream · Meteorology · Northern Hemisphere · Sea ice · Snow · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics · Climate change and permafrost · Climate variability and models · Environmental Science · Geology · Oceanography
Asymmetry variations in Arctic summer onset and ending
Arctic sea-ice decline causes intense summer monsoon precipitation events over South Asia under greenhouse warming
Nonstationary thermodynamic and dynamic contributions to the interannual variability of winter sea ice growth in the Kara–Laptev Seas
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |