Sunlight, water, and ice: Extreme Arctic sea ice melt during the summer of 2007

Perovich, Donald K.; Richter‐Menge, Jacqueline A.; Jones, Kathleen F.; Light, Bonnie

doi:10.1029/2008gl034007

Cited by 411 publications

(497 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…Numerical simulations and sensitivity studies show that the increased ocean heat will rise AW temperature in the Arctic, but will not contribute to the melting of sea ice significantly (Smedsrud et al, 2008). Here we report new observations of the thermal microstructure of the upper Arctic Ocean, in support of this view, collected in April 2007 preceding the record minimum summer ice cover (Perovich et al, 2008). The focus is on mixing across CHL, previously not addressed in Arctic turbulence studies, using a data set that is an advance on the recent study of Rainville and Winsor (2008).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Weak Vertical Diffusion Allows Maintenance of Cold Halocline in the Central Arctic

Fer

2009

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

120

131

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In spring preceding the record minimum summer ice cover detailed microstructure measurements were made from drifting pack ice in the Arctic Ocean, 110 km from the North Pole. Profiles of hydrography, shear, and temperature microstructure collected in the upper water column covering the core of the Atlantic Water are analyzed to determine the diapycnal eddy diffusivity, the eddy diffusivity for heat, and the turbulent flux of heat. Turbulence in the bulk of the cold halocline layer was not strong enough to generate significant buoyancy flux and mixing. Resulting turbulent heat flux across the upper cold halocline was not significantly different than zero. The results show that the low levels of eddy diffusivity in the upper cold halocline lead to small vertical turbulent transport of heat, thereby allowing the maintenance of the cold halocline in the central Arctic.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Weak Vertical Diffusion Allows Maintenance of Cold Halocline in the Central Arctic

Fer

2009

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

120

131

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“…The solar radiation arriving at the newly exposed ocean surface because of the sea-ice melting can cause SST to increase in these regions (Perovich et al 2008). The SST increases can be ignored and the SSTs in sea-ice reduction regions can be set as constant (normally at the freezing point −1.8 °C, e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric response to the autumn sea-ice free Arctic and its detectability

et al. 2015

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“…The reconstructed September Arctic SIE explains ∼56% of the total variance. Various nonlinear feedbacks, such as the ice infrared feedback (11,12) and ice albedo feedback (13)(14)(15), might contribute to the residual variance not explained by the multiple regression model.…”

Section: Multiple Regression and Spatial Patternmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various mechanisms have been proposed separately for the observed recent summer Arctic sea ice decline, such as the positive ice infrared feedback, i.e., enhanced downward longwave radiative flux due to increased air temperature, water vapor, cloudiness, and reduced sea ice (11,12); the positive ice albedo feedback (13)(14)(15); the warming of the Atlantic water in the Arctic (16)(17)(18); the increase in Bering Strait ocean heat fluxes (19); the influence of wind forcing over the central Arctic associated with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) (20,21) and the nonlinear positive feedback (22) among Pacific inflow, Beaufort Gyre (23), and AO at interannual time scale; and the interaction between the Arctic Dipole (AD) and transpolar ice drift (24)(25)(26)(27)(28). The previous studies are often based on short observational records.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms for low-frequency variability of summer Arctic sea ice extent

Zhang

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

190

174

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Satellite observations reveal a substantial decline in September Arctic sea ice extent since 1979, which has played a leading role in the observed recent Arctic surface warming and has often been attributed, in large part, to the increase in greenhouse gases. However, the most rapid decline occurred during the recent global warming hiatus period. Previous studies are often focused on a single mechanism for changes and variations of summer Arctic sea ice extent, and many are based on short observational records. The key players for summer Arctic sea ice extent variability at multidecadal/ centennial time scales and their contributions to the observed summer Arctic sea ice decline are not well understood. Here a multiple regression model is developed for the first time, to the author's knowledge, to provide a framework to quantify the contributions of three key predictors (Atlantic/Pacific heat transport into the Arctic, and Arctic Dipole) to the internal low-frequency variability of Summer Arctic sea ice extent, using a 3,600-y-long control climate model simulation. The results suggest that changes in these key predictors could have contributed substantially to the observed summer Arctic sea ice decline. If the ocean heat transport into the Arctic were to weaken in the near future due to internal variability, there might be a hiatus in the decline of September Arctic sea ice. The modeling results also suggest that at multidecadal/centennial time scales, variations in the atmosphere heat transport across the Arctic Circle are forced by anticorrelated variations in the Atlantic heat transport into the Arctic.Arctic sea ice | internal variability | ocean heat transport O bservations reveal multidecadal variations in Arctic surface air temperature (SAT), and amplified Arctic warming similar to that observed in recent decades also occurred during 1930-1940 (1-3). Both observations and climate modeling results suggest that the reduced Arctic sea ice is crucial for the early twentieth century Arctic warming, and internal variability is a very likely cause for that event (3). In recent decades, satellite observations reveal a substantial decline in September Arctic sea ice extent (4). This observed recent Arctic sea ice decline is also found to have played a leading role in causing the observed amplified Arctic surface warming in recent decades (5, 6).The summer Arctic was projected to become ice-free within a few decades by some climate models used in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) due to the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gases (7, 8), or even within the next decade if extrapolating the observed trend (9). These future projections imply enormous social and economic impacts, such as the potential for trans-Arctic shipping. However, the most rapid decline in summer Arctic sea ice actually occurred during the recent global warming hiatus period. The CMIP5 multimodel mean response to changes in anthropogenic radiative forcings exhibits much less decline in September Arctic sea ice extent (SIE)...

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Sunlight, water, and ice: Extreme Arctic sea ice melt during the summer of 2007

Cited by 411 publications

References 20 publications

Weak Vertical Diffusion Allows Maintenance of Cold Halocline in the Central Arctic

Weak Vertical Diffusion Allows Maintenance of Cold Halocline in the Central Arctic

Atmospheric response to the autumn sea-ice free Arctic and its detectability

Mechanisms for low-frequency variability of summer Arctic sea ice extent

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