Patterns and trends of Northern Hemisphere snow mass from 1980 to 2018

Pulliainen, Jouni; Luojus, Kari; Derksen, Chris; Mudryk, Lawrence; Lemmetyinen, Juha; Salminen, Miia; Ikonen, Jaakko; Takala, Matias; Cohen, Juval; Smolander, Tuomo; Norberg, Johannes

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2258-0

Cited by 258 publications

(232 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…First snow-off is shifting 6.2 d decade -1 earlier (p > 0.05) and final snow-off is shifting 0.2 d decade -1 later (p > 0.05) (Figure 2c). Trends toward an earlier snow-free season are consistent with reductions in Arctic snow mass trends in the Northern Hemisphere, which have decreased by 49 49 Gt decade -1 since 1980 (Pulliainen et al 2020). ±…”

Section: Snow-offsupporting

confidence: 67%

Sea ice and snow phenology in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1997 to 2018

Dauginis

Brown

2021

Arctic Science

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The multiple islands and narrow channels that form the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) complicate snow/ice monitoring, as coarse resolution satellite observations are unable to resolve smaller-scale changes in snow/ice cover. We present the first study showing the utility of the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 24 km (1997–2018) and 4 km (2004–2018) products to investigate changes in sea ice and snow phenology together in the CAA. While ice break-up and snow retreat are shifting earlier (p>0.05), on par with other Arctic regions, the final summer clearing of ice is shifting later. This, combined with trends towards earlier ice freeze and snow fall (p<0.05), result in shorter open water and snow free seasons in the CAA. Spatial links between sea ice and snow are evident as significant clusters of trends were identified for all phenology parameters. The western regions were dominated by shifts toward shorter snow/ice seasons, while eastern regions tended to exhibit longer cover. Our research highlights the considerable regional and interannual variability in the timing of sea ice and snow advance/retreat within the CAA and emphasizes how the ice and snow dynamics in this complex region are responding to ongoing changing climate conditions.

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Section: Snow-offsupporting

confidence: 67%

Sea ice and snow phenology in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1997 to 2018

Dauginis

Brown

2021

Arctic Science

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“…4a). In contrast, rnet increased in middle to high latitudes, where extensive "greening" (i.e., an increase of vegetation with low albedo) occurred (Piao et al 2020) and snow mass, which has high albedo, decreased (Pulliainen et al 2020). The temporal variation of rnet, that is, a decrease until the 1970s and a subsequent increase, is consistent with the global dimming and brightening revealed by observations of incoming solar radiation (Wild et al 2005).…”

Section: Biogeophysical Impacts: Historicalsupporting

confidence: 57%

Biogeophysical and biogeochemical impacts of land-use change simulated by MIROC-ES2L

Ito

Hajima

2020

Prog Earth Planet Sci

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Land-use change is one of the focal processes in Earth system models because it has strong impacts on terrestrial biogeophysical and biogeochemical conditions. However, modeling land-use impacts is still challenging because of model complexity and uncertainty. This study examined the results of simulations of land-use change impacts by the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, Earth System version 2 for long-term simulations (MIROC-ES2L) conducted under the Land-Use Model Intercomparison Project protocol. In a historical experiment, the model reproduced biogeophysical impacts such as decreasing trends in land-surface net radiation and evapotranspiration by about 1970. Among biogeochemical impacts, the model captured the global decrease of vegetation and soil carbon stocks caused by extensive deforestation. By releasing ecosystem carbon stock to the atmosphere, land-use change shortened the mean residence time of terrestrial carbon and accelerated its turnover rate, especially in low latitudes. Future projections based on Shared Socioeconomic Pathways indicated substantial alteration of land conditions caused primarily by climatic change and secondarily by land-use change. Sensitivity experiments conducted by exchanging land-use data between different future projection baseline experiments showed that, at the global scale, the anticipated extent of land-use conversion would likely play a modest role in the future terrestrial radiation, water, and carbon budgets. Regional investigations revealed that future land use would exert a considerable influence on runoff and vegetation carbon stock. Further model refinement is required to improve its capability to analyze its complicated terrestrial linkages or nexus (e.g., food, bioenergy, and carbon sequestration) to climate-change impacts.

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“…This complexity exists also in our mountainous study area, as SCD has surprisingly low correlation with temperatures (r s = −0.45). In recent decades, northern Fennoscandia has experienced a slight increase in winter precipitation and maximum snow depth but a significant decrease in spring snow depth and SCD (29,46,47). This indicates that gains in winter snowfall are not enough to counterbalance the advanced snow melt caused by higher spring and summer temperatures (48).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra

Niittynen

Heikkinen

Luoto

2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The Arctic is one of the least human-impacted parts of the world, but, in turn, tundra biome is facing the most rapid climate change on Earth. These perturbations may cause major reshuffling of Arctic species compositions and functional trait profiles and diversity, thereby affecting ecosystem processes of the whole tundra region. Earlier research has detected important drivers of the change in plant functional traits under warming climate, but studies on one key factor, snow cover, are almost totally lacking. Here we integrate plot-scale vegetation data with detailed climate and snow information using machine learning methods to model the responsiveness of tundra communities to different scenarios of warming and snow cover duration. Our results show that decreasing snow cover, together with warming temperatures, can substantially modify biotic communities and their trait compositions, with future plant communities projected to be occupied by taller plants with larger leaves and faster resource acquisition strategies. As another finding, we show that, while the local functional diversity may increase, simultaneous biotic homogenization across tundra communities is likely to occur. The manifestation of climate warming on tundra vegetation is highly dependent on the evolution of snow conditions. Given this, realistic assessments of future ecosystem functioning require acknowledging the role of snow in tundra vegetation models.

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Patterns and trends of Northern Hemisphere snow mass from 1980 to 2018

Cited by 258 publications

References 43 publications

Sea ice and snow phenology in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1997 to 2018

Sea ice and snow phenology in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1997 to 2018

Biogeophysical and biogeochemical impacts of land-use change simulated by MIROC-ES2L

Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra

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