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More frequent atmospheric rivers slow the seasonal recovery of Arctic sea ice

Author

Listed:
  • Pengfei Zhang

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Gang Chen

    (University of California Los Angeles)

  • Mingfang Ting

    (Columbia University)

  • L. Ruby Leung

    (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

  • Bin Guan

    (University of California Los Angeles
    California Institute of Technology)

  • Laifang Li

    (The Pennsylvania State University
    The Pennsylvania State Univeristy
    The Pennsylvania State University)

Abstract

In recent decades, Arctic sea-ice coverage underwent a drastic decline in winter, when sea ice is expected to recover following the melting season. It is unclear to what extent atmospheric processes such as atmospheric rivers (ARs), intense corridors of moisture transport, contribute to this reduced recovery of sea ice. Here, using observations and climate model simulations, we find a robust frequency increase in ARs in early winter over the Barents–Kara Seas and the central Arctic for 1979–2021. The moisture carried by more frequent ARs has intensified surface downward longwave radiation and rainfall, caused stronger melting of thin, fragile ice cover and slowed the seasonal recovery of sea ice, accounting for 34% of the sea-ice cover decline in the Barents–Kara Seas and central Arctic. A series of model ensemble experiments suggests that, in addition to a uniform AR increase in response to anthropogenic warming, tropical Pacific variability also contributes to the observed Arctic AR changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Pengfei Zhang & Gang Chen & Mingfang Ting & L. Ruby Leung & Bin Guan & Laifang Li, 2023. "More frequent atmospheric rivers slow the seasonal recovery of Arctic sea ice," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(3), pages 266-273, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:13:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1038_s41558-023-01599-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01599-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Francois Lapointe & Ambarish V. Karmalkar & Raymond S. Bradley & Michael J. Retelle & Feng Wang, 2024. "Climate extremes in Svalbard over the last two millennia are linked to atmospheric blocking," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Weiming Ma & Hailong Wang & Gang Chen & L. Ruby Leung & Jian Lu & Philip J. Rasch & Qiang Fu & Ben Kravitz & Yufei Zou & John J. Cassano & Wieslaw Maslowski, 2024. "The role of interdecadal climate oscillations in driving Arctic atmospheric river trends," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Zhibiao Wang & Qinghua Ding & Renguang Wu & Thomas J. Ballinger & Bin Guan & Deniz Bozkurt & Deanna Nash & Ian Baxter & Dániel Topál & Zhe Li & Gang Huang & Wen Chen & Shangfeng Chen & Xi Cao & Zhang , 2024. "Role of atmospheric rivers in shaping long term Arctic moisture variability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

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