Ecological implications of changes in the arctic cryosphere. Walker9 after a decade with nine of the lowest arctic sea ice minima on. Seaice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions. Future climate response to antarctic ice sheet melt caused. Sea ice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions, population mixing, gene flow, and pathogen and disease.
Hortonc aschool of earth and atmospheric sciences, georgia institute of technology, atlanta, ga 30332. Impact of declining arctic sea ice on winter snowfall. A framework for assessing the economic impacts of arctic change. Impacts of changes in sea ice and other environmental parameters. While suffering polar bears are a poignant symbol of climate change, the effects of disappearing ice extend far beyond the arctic circle and its inhabitants. Polar bears could disappear by 2100 due to melting ice. Climate impacts in alaska climate change impacts us epa. Sep 26, 2016 the decline of arctic sea ice also has profound global climatic effects, or feedbacks, that are already intensifying global warming and have the potential to destabilize the climate system. Feb 19, 2021 sea ice decline the arctic is warming two to three times as fast as the rest of the planet and has seen a dramatic decline of sea ice as a result. Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of. It explains that the beaufort gyre freshwater content has increased since the 1990s. After successive years of melting, the consequences are likely to be felt further afield with scientists suggesting weather patterns in the northern hemisphere may be altered. Arctic sea ice united states environmental protection agency.
Physical science, earth science, environmental science. The arctic sea ice decline is among the most emblematic manifestations of climate change and is occurring before we understand its ecological consequences. The sea ice cover acts as a physical barrier between the ocean and the atmosphere, limiting energy and moisture exchange. Seaice algal phenology in a warmer arctic science advances. While arctic sea ice likely will persist in the dark winter months, summers will see little ice cover in coming decades. Mar 29, 2021 arctic sea ice plays a vital role in modulating the global climate. While sea ice exists primarily in the polar regions, it influences the global climate. Sea ice also keeps the air cool by forming a barrier between the cold air above and the relatively warmer water below. Polar bears are starving because of global warming, melting.
Arctic ocean in winter, and, until recently, ice covered most of this ocean during summer as well. However, there is littletono stratospheric response to sea ice loss during the westerly phase of the qbo. Influence of the arctic seaice regime shift on seaice. Sea ice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions, population mixing, gene flow, and pathogen and disease transmission. Sea birds rest and find food amongst the kelp fronds. What are the consequences of arctic sea ice decline. We conclude that the recent decline of arctic sea ice has played a critical role in recent cold and snowy winters. The extent, area and volume of arctic sea ice asi have shrunk sharply in the past decades. Changes in air temperature and sea ice extent, volume, and.
Six ways loss of arctic ice impacts everyone pages wwf. Over half of the organisms capturing the suns energy primary producers in the arctic ocean are algae and phytoplankton that grow on or under sea ice. Nov 01, 2020 changes in sea ice can directly affect the health of arctic ecosystems. Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change. Sea ice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions, population mixing, gene flow, and pathogen and. Impact of declining arctic sea ice on winter snowfall jiping liua,b,1, judith a. As ice diminishes, so will these primary producers along with the higher. Sea ice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions.
Model projections indicate quasilinear physical changes along. These animals face the threat of declining birth rates and restricted access to food sources because of reduced sea ice coverage and thickness. The new study was published within nature communications on 6th feb 2020. Their latest results show that the declining arctic sea ice has led to an increasingly energetic beaufort gyre. Sea lions, harbour seals and whales use the kelp forests as shelter from storms and predators, aswell as a place to forage for food. We investigated future changes in algal productivity combining a biogeochemical model for sympagic algae with sea ice drivers from an ensemble of 18 cmip5 climate models. However, determining sea ice effects on tundra vegetation remains a challenge. About 15 percent of the worlds oceans are covered by sea ice during part of the year. The polar bear ursus maritimus and the pacific walrus odobenus rosmarus divergens are dependent on sea ice over the continental shelves of the arctic oceans marginal seas. Meltwater and ice discharge from a retreating antarctic ice sheet could have important impacts on future global climate. Jmse free fulltext effects of waveinduced sea ice break. Ecological consequences of seaice decline western washington. Nasa arctic sea ice decline shakes up ocean ecosystems.
The changes in the arctic are manifested by the decline in the sea ice, permafrost, glaciers and the greenland ice sheet stroeve et al. Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability steven h. Ecological consequences of seaice decline eric post et al. One consequence has been a rapid decline in arctic sea ice over the past 3 decadesa decline that is projected to continue by stateoftheart models. Ecology of infectious marine diseases, nsf ecology and evolution of infectious.
One highly visible consequence has been a rapid decline in arctic sea ice over the past 3 decadesa decline projected to continue and result in ice free summers likely as soon as 2030. Ice formation and melt substantially modify the biogeochemical balance of. In the most recent decades, the rapid decline of the arctic summer sea ice cover has exposed increasing areas of ice free ocean, with sufficient fetch for waves to develop. Probability assessments of an icefree arctic federal reserve. The economic significance of a seasonally seaicefree future arctic, the. Here, we report on multicentury present2250 climate simulations performed using a coupled numerical model integrated under future greenhousegas emission scenarios ipcc rcp4. Multimedia gallery ecological consequences of seaice. Its higher albedo reflects much of the incoming solar radiation during the summer, keeping the region cooler than an ice free environment. Arctic sea ice loss has widespread effects on wildlife date. Stating that the paleoecological record shows close correspondence between ice cover and the presence of adelie penguins is correct 12. Dryad data divergence of arctic shrub growth associated. March and september monthly average arctic sea ice extent, 19792016. We propose that the shift from older sea ice lower mehg to younger sea ice higher mehg resulted in a 40% increase in mehg per square meter of sea ice since 1979 despite a 45% decline in the total sea ice volume.
The arctic, showing the minimum extent of sea ice in. The decline of arctic sea ice also has profound global climatic effects, or feedbacks, that are already intensifying global warming and have the potential to destabilize the climate system. Arctic sea ice decline has led to an amplification of surface warming and is projected to. The warming of the atmosphere and the vertical heat fluxes from the ocean are contributing to the arctic sea ice rapid decline. Consequences in terms of projected sea ice thinning and decline p. Major challenges in the near future include assigning clearer attribution to sea ice as a. Arctic sea ice now starts melting 11 days earlier and it starts refreezing 26 days later than it used to, on average see figure 3. Arctic sea ice decline usgs publications repository usgs. Full publication availability and quality of sea ice habitat can influence the body condition of polar bears, as well as their denning distribution and population dynamics. January 1, 20 through september 10, 2016, the date when the sea ice reached its annual minimum extent.
Model projections indicate quasilinear physical changes. The impact of declining arctic sea ice skeptical science. Among all the variables characterizing sea ice, the sea ice volume is by far the most sensitive one for climate change since it is decaying at the highest rate compared to sea ice extent and sea ice thickness. The area covered by ice at the end of summer 2012 was nearly 50 percent smaller than the historical average. The global impacts of arctic sea ice loss the student. We deduced sea ice growth from fdd that we compared with model piomas and satellite cryosat2 estimations. Polar bears are starving because of global warming. Substantial environmental impacts of climate change show profound. Yurkowski1,2, randi anderson2, cornelia willing2,3 and ole nielsen1 1 fisheries and oceans canada, winnipeg, mb, canada 2 department of biological sciences, university of manitoba, winnipeg, mb, canada. Pdf implications of arctic sea ice decline for the earth system. Arctic seaice loss has widespread effects on wildlife.
Since satellite records began in 1978, summer and autumn sea ice extent has decreased approximately 50 percent, an amount roughly equal to half the area of the continental united states. Fulton,5 mark hebblewhite,6 jeffrey kerby,1 susan j. The global impacts of rapidly disappearing arctic sea ice. A 2007 study found the decline to be faster than forecasted by model simulations. Higher concentration appears white, and lower concentration appears blue. Sea ice extent has continued to decline during september, reaching below four million square kilometers early in the month.
Future climate response to antarctic ice sheet melt caused by. Multiyear floes used to be blown south in fall, reaching the shore near barrow and passing. Ipcc climate models do not capture arctic sea ice drift acceleration. Sep 23, 2018 one of the more remarkable features of arctic sea ice over the past year was the dearth of ice in the bering sea through the 201718 ice growth season. The ipcc, in its fourth assessment report, stated that greenhouse gas forcing is predominantly responsible for the decline in arctic sea ice extent. In addition, the small sample of years with a large sea ice loss makes it dif. But the spread of ice has been on the decline as climate change accelerates the rise in. Extent is the area covered by at least 15% sea ice, and the yellow line indicates the 19812010 median extent for this date.
Several studies suggest that, with advancing global warming, cold winters in midlatitude. Five reasons why sea ice decline should be front page news. Jul 21, 2020 polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting seals, their primary food source, according to the new study. Effects of arctic sea ice decline on weather and climate. Pdf arctic sea ice decline has led to an amplification of surface warming and is. This has highlighted the complex and not wellunderstood nature of wave ice interactions, requiring modeling effort. Lemmen, climate change impacts and adaptation division. Sea ice loss emerges as an important drive r of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions, population mixing, gene flow, and pathogen and disease transmission. Annual mean sea ice extent in the arctic very likely declined at a. This figure shows arctic sea ice extent for the months of september and march of each year from 1979 through 2016. Polar bears really are starving because of global warming, study shows. Download pdf supplemental material article metrics. Arctic sea ice is an important part of the climate system.
In the mackenzie river, decreasing ice jams are resulting in less. Indeed, we are not far from the moment when the feedbacks themselves will be driving the change every bit as much as our continuing emission of billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually. After a decade with nine of the lowest arctic sea ice minima on record, including the historically low minimum in 2012, we synthesize recent developmen ts in the study of ecological responses to sea ice decline. Other possible effectsboth direct and indirectof seaice loss and longer icefree seasons on land animals include increases in population mixing, which could lead to hybridization and reduction in genetic differentiation, as well as a drastic change in disease dynamics. New science sheds more light on recent controversy over how much the large carnivores are being impacted by melting sea ice.
The graph above shows arctic sea ice extent as of november 2, 2017 along with daily ice extent data for five previous years. How the arctic wildlife and humans will be affected by the continued melting of arctic sea. Mammals such as polar bears and walruses rely on the presence of sea ice for hunting, breeding, and migrating. The drastic reduction of the arctic sea ice over the past 40 years is the most glaring evidence of climate change on planet earth. Observations, projections, mechanisms, and implications.
Ecological consequences of seaice decline eric post,1 uma s. Using a hightop model, the quasibiennial oscillation qbo is found to significantly modulate the response to arctic sea ice decline. The ice cap that covers much of the arctic ocean has declined. Impacts of changing seaice conditions on arctic marine.
The stratospheric polar vortex weakens in response to sea ice forcing during easterly qbo winters. Arctic sea ice from january 1, 20 to september 10, 2016. Record of recent sea ice loss one of the most conspicuous consequences of recent anthropogenic warming has been declining annual minimum extent of arctic sea ice 7. Enhanced eddy activity in the beaufort gyre in response to sea ice loss.
Arctic sea ice decline shakes up ocean ecosystems 11. If the kelp forests decline, there is a huge loss in biodiversity to that region. Climate change effects on arctic ecosystems and species climate. Many stakeholders are therefore interested in how global warming may change the timing and extent of sea ice arcticwide, and for specific regions. Few people understand that the arctic sea ice death spiral represents more than just a major ecological upheaval in the worlds far north. Impacts of changing seaice conditions on arctic marine mammals. Sea ice in the arctic has declined in terms of overall extent, thickness, proportion of myi and seasonal duration. The bering sea supports a vibrant sea ice ecosystem with abundant seals, birds, and other pelagic species that critically depend on the timing of sea ice formation and retreat. When bright, reflective sea ice melts, it gives way to a. Over the period of modern satellite observations, arctic seaice extent at the end of the. During the last few decades, the ice has retreated.
Some of the most important climate news this winter has been around the alarming lack of sea ice in the arctic, which has been in decline due to the steady rise in earths average air and ocean temperatures. The arctic sea ice decline has occurred in recent decades by sea ice in the arctic ocean melting faster than it refreezes in the winter. In the past decade, multiyear sea ice was reduced at three. Ipcc climate models do not capture arctic sea ice drift. Sea ice loss emerges as an important drive r of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics. Changing ice conditions in the arctic and effects on ecosystem coupling.
Summer sea surface temperatures sst in the arctic ocean are driven mainly by the amount of incoming solar radiation absorbed by the sea surface. The major decline in sea ice that has taken place in the arctic since 2000 has become an iconic climate change signal. Pdf ecological consequences of seaice decline researchgate. Solar warming of the arctic surface ocean is influenced by the distribution of sea ice with greater warming occurring in ice free regions, cloud cover, ocean optical properties, and upperocean stratification. Observed genetic shifts modulate local effects of climate change, but there is little. Causes and impacts on middle latitudes, global and planetary change 2014, doi. The arctic is warming faster than other regions of the world due to positive climate feedbacks associated with loss of snow and ice. After a decade with nine of the lowest arctic sea ice minima on record, including the historically low minimum in 2012, we synthesize recent developments in the study of ecological responses to sea ice decline. Earth system research laboratory, national centers for environmental. Implications of arctic sea ice decline for the earth system annual. Sep 08, 2020 arctic sea ice concentration on september 19, 2018, one of the two dates that sea ice experienced its minimum extent in 2018.
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