Increasing solar heating of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, 1979–2005: Attribution and role in the ice‐albedo feedback

Abstract

[1] Over the past few decades the Arctic sea ice cover has decreased in areal extent. This has altered the solar radiation forcing on the Arctic atmosphere-ice-ocean system by decreasing the surface albedo and allowing more solar heating of the upper ocean. This study addresses how the amount of solar energy absorbed in areas of open water in the Arctic Basin has varied spatially and temporally over the past few decades. A synthetic approach was taken, combining satellite-derived ice concentrations, incident irradiances determined from reanalysis products, and field observations of ocean albedo over the Arctic Ocean and the adjacent seas. Results indicate an increase in the solar energy deposited in the upper ocean over the past few decades in 89% of the region studied. The largest increases in total yearly solar heat input, as much as 4% per year, occurred in the Chukchi Sea and adjacent areas.

Role of sea ice in global biogeochemical cycles: emerging views and challenges

“…In contrast, over the last two decades, the shares of basal and surface melt have been comparable. Thinner ice fosters the summer reduction in ice concentration, which in turn increases basal melt through to the ice-albedo feedback, as observed [Perovich et al, 2003;Perovich et al, 2007] and simulated [Vancoppenolle et al, 2009b]. Because the long-term ice retreat is more pronounced in summer than in winter [see, e.g., Deser and Teng, 2008], the amplitude of the seasonal cycle of Arctic sea ice extent has been increasing, which means that the total annual sea ice growth and melt has been increasing and should continue to increase in the future [e.g., Holland et al, 2006].…”

Field observations and results of a 1-D boundary layer model for developing near-surface temperature maxima in the Western Arctic

“…Freshwater fluxes were generally constrained to the collection of freshwater in leads due to lateral melt (Paulson and Pegau, 2001;Hayes and Morison, 2008), and basal melt due to oceanto-ice heat fluxes. Basal melt rates during the MIZ-KOPRI Ice Camp were small (LTC model melt rate at C5 was ~ 0.7 cm day -1 ) due to the large areal coverage of sea ice, low melt pond fraction, light winds, and reduced solar input in late summer.…”

“…The primary source of this heating is the two-fold rise in ocean-absorbed solar radiation (Perovich et al, 2007) that results from rapidly declining summer sea ice extent (Comiso et al, 2008;Steele et al, 2010). Recent studies in the Canada Basin show that this absorbed solar heating is partitioned 0.23/0.77 between ocean heat storage and latent heat loss (basal ice melt), respectively (Toole et al, 2010;Gallaher et al, 2016).…”

Photosynthetic response of Arctic kelp zoospores exposed to radiation and thermal stress

“…4, 5 Consequently, the decrease in Arctic sea ice cover and surface albedo has altered the solar radiation forcing on the Arctic atmosphere-ice-ocean system allowing more solar heating of the upper ocean. 6 Various North Atlantic kelp species have broad latitudinal distribution occurring as far south as the 16 • C summer isotherm on the coasts of Brittany and Portugal and extend north towards the Arctic. 7, 8 The species-specific temperature tolerance and temperature ranges for survival, growth, and reproduction determine their autecology and biogeography.…”