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Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss

Sea ice reduction is accelerating in the Barents and Kara Seas. Several mechanisms are proposed to explain the accelerated loss of Arctic sea ice, which remains to be controversial. In the present study, detailed physical mechanism of sea ice reduction in winter (December–February) is identified fro...

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Autores principales: Kim, Kwang-Yul, Kim, Ji-Young, Kim, Jinju, Yeo, Saerim, Na, Hanna, Hamlington, Benjamin D., Leben, Robert R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6362226/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30718765
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38109-x
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author Kim, Kwang-Yul
Kim, Ji-Young
Kim, Jinju
Yeo, Saerim
Na, Hanna
Hamlington, Benjamin D.
Leben, Robert R.
author_facet Kim, Kwang-Yul
Kim, Ji-Young
Kim, Jinju
Yeo, Saerim
Na, Hanna
Hamlington, Benjamin D.
Leben, Robert R.
author_sort Kim, Kwang-Yul
collection PubMed
description Sea ice reduction is accelerating in the Barents and Kara Seas. Several mechanisms are proposed to explain the accelerated loss of Arctic sea ice, which remains to be controversial. In the present study, detailed physical mechanism of sea ice reduction in winter (December–February) is identified from the daily ERA interim reanalysis data. Downward longwave radiation is an essential element for sea ice reduction, but can primarily be sustained by excessive upward heat flux from the sea surface exposed to air in the region of sea ice loss. The increased turbulent heat flux is used to increase air temperature and specific humidity in the lower troposphere, which in turn increases downward longwave radiation. This feedback process is clearly observed in the Barents and Kara Seas in the reanalysis data. A quantitative assessment reveals that this feedback process is being amplified at the rate of ~8.9% every year during 1979–2016. Availability of excessive heat flux is necessary for the maintenance of this feedback process; a similar mechanism of sea ice loss is expected to take place over the sea-ice covered polar region, when sea ice is not fully recovered in winter.
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spelling pubmed-63622262019-02-06 Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss Kim, Kwang-Yul Kim, Ji-Young Kim, Jinju Yeo, Saerim Na, Hanna Hamlington, Benjamin D. Leben, Robert R. Sci Rep Article Sea ice reduction is accelerating in the Barents and Kara Seas. Several mechanisms are proposed to explain the accelerated loss of Arctic sea ice, which remains to be controversial. In the present study, detailed physical mechanism of sea ice reduction in winter (December–February) is identified from the daily ERA interim reanalysis data. Downward longwave radiation is an essential element for sea ice reduction, but can primarily be sustained by excessive upward heat flux from the sea surface exposed to air in the region of sea ice loss. The increased turbulent heat flux is used to increase air temperature and specific humidity in the lower troposphere, which in turn increases downward longwave radiation. This feedback process is clearly observed in the Barents and Kara Seas in the reanalysis data. A quantitative assessment reveals that this feedback process is being amplified at the rate of ~8.9% every year during 1979–2016. Availability of excessive heat flux is necessary for the maintenance of this feedback process; a similar mechanism of sea ice loss is expected to take place over the sea-ice covered polar region, when sea ice is not fully recovered in winter. Nature Publishing Group UK 2019-02-04 /pmc/articles/PMC6362226/ /pubmed/30718765 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38109-x Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Kim, Kwang-Yul
Kim, Ji-Young
Kim, Jinju
Yeo, Saerim
Na, Hanna
Hamlington, Benjamin D.
Leben, Robert R.
Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title_full Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title_fullStr Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title_full_unstemmed Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title_short Vertical Feedback Mechanism of Winter Arctic Amplification and Sea Ice Loss
title_sort vertical feedback mechanism of winter arctic amplification and sea ice loss
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6362226/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30718765
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38109-x
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