Following four expeditions in the Arctic Ocean and satellite data analysis, a team of Russian climate scientists featuring MIPT researchers described the ocean’s “seasonal memory.”
Following four expeditions in the Arctic Ocean and satellite data analysis, a team of Russian climate scientists featuring MIPT researchers described the ocean’s “seasonal memory.” This refers to a mechanism explaining how atmospheric circulation has caused the ice in the Eurasian Arctic to melt faster than in the American Arctic in the 21st century. The paper was published in the journal Atmosphere.
Global warming affects the Arctic more than other regions on the planet. Each year, the ice cover retreats slightly closer to the North Pole. Since an ever-smaller area of the Arctic Ocean is covered with ice, which serves as a mirror reflecting sunlight, the seawater captures more heat. This vicious circle causes even more ice to melt. Climate scientists predict that by the end of the 21st century, the entire ice cover in the Arctic may become seasonal, melting every summer.
The Arctic does not lose ice uniformly. According to the researchers, different seasonal patterns are at play depending on region: From the early 2000s, the ice cover in the Eurasian Arctic has been shrinking even in the winter period, while the American region only lost ice in the summer.
Read more at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Photo: Akademik Tryoshnikov, the research vessel that carried the team of Russian climate scientists on their fourth expedition in the Arctic Ocean in 2015.Image courtesy of Mikhail Varentsov
