Interactions between the atmosphere, cryosphere, and ecosystems at northern high latitudes

Abstract

Abstract. The Nordic Centre of Excellence CRAICC (Cryosphere–Atmosphere Interactions in a Changing Arctic Climate), funded by NordForsk in the years 2011–2016, is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date, aiming to strengthen research and innovation regarding climate change issues in the Nordic region. CRAICC gathered more than 100 scientists from all Nordic countries in a virtual centre with the objectives of identifying and quantifying the major processes controlling Arctic warming and related feedback mechanisms, outlining strategies to mitigate Arctic warming, and developing Nordic Earth system modelling with a focus on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), including natural and anthropogenic aerosols. The outcome of CRAICC is reflected in more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications, most of which are in the CRAICC special issue of the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. This paper presents an overview of the main scientific topics investigated in the centre and provides the reader with a state-of-the-art comprehensive summary of what has been achieved in CRAICC with links to the particular publications for further detail. Faced with a vast amount of scientific discovery, we do not claim to completely summarize the results from CRAICC within this paper, but rather concentrate here on the main results which are related to feedback loops in climate change–cryosphere interactions that affect Arctic amplification.

Microbial Abundance and Enzyme Activity Patterns: Response to Changing Environmental Characteristics along a Transect in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard Islands)

“…Their geographical coordinates are reported in Table 1. Station 4, close to the mooring Dirigibile Italia (MDI), was sampled at six depths (1,5,25,50,75, and 100 m), using different 10-liter Niskin bottles mounted on a single rope, which were closed at the chosen depths.…”

“…Besides rising temperatures and salinity variations, increased water turbidity due to particulate matter inputs from glacier meltwater outflow and river runoff are frequently recorded in coastal or close to coastal ecosystems. The cumulative effects of increased temperatures and UV radiation on aquatic and terrestrial domains as well as on living organisms have been widely studied [1]. At the microbial level, a significant contribution to current knowledge of the distribution, community dynamics, and metabolic activities of marine microorganisms inhabiting Arctic marine ecosystems has been provided by a number of previous investigations [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Observed and modelled cloud cover up to 6 km height at Station Nord in the high Arctic

“…The temperature is generally low; the climatologically warmest month is July with a mean temperature of 4 C; the winter is generally cold and below −20 C; the climatologically coldest month is March with an average temperature of −26 C. The enhanced warming in the Arctic (Boy et al, 2019), termed Arctic amplification, can also be observed at Station Nord.…”

20 years of Nordic climate change crisis and tourism research: a review and future research agenda

“…The IPCC (2019) highlights that, with 66%-100% probability, the increase in Arctic surface air temperature of the last two decades is double that of the global average. Permafrost thaw has accelerated, which has only added to emissions, while snow cover period has reduced along with the ice sheets of Greenland and Iceland (Boy et al, 2019;IPCC, 2019). Increased warming has implications for extreme weather events, winter tourism, tourist activities, the tourism landscape, growing seasons, fish and animal stocks, ecosystem services, and biodiversity (Boy et al, 2019;IPCC, 2019;Malinauskaite et al, 2019).…”

“…Although the impacts of climate change on the Nordic environment are increasingly clear (Boy et al, 2019), there has been relatively little systematic attention given to the effects of the physical environmental aspects of climate change on tourism. Research topics that have been covered, and which have clear significance for future research, include the impacts of sea ice on cruise tourism (Bystrowska, 2019), weather preferences of tourists (Jacobsen et al, 2011), and biodiversity conservation (Hall, 2010;Hall et al, 2010;Tolvanen & Kangas, 2016).…”