The Arctic's shrinking sea ice

Johannessen, Ola M.; Miles, Martin W.; Bjørgo, Einar

doi:10.1038/376126a0

Cited by 174 publications

(83 citation statements)

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“…Some of the strongest supporting evidence for the existence of a warming trend during the last 100 yr comes from analyses showing that most of the world's mountain glaciers are shrinking and that snow cover is decreasing too (Houghton et al 1992). Significant reductions in extent of Arctic sea ice have been recorded during the last 15 yr, and an acceleration in the rate of decrease was detected after 1987 (Johannessen et al 1995). Sea surface temperatures have increased, and in California (USA) at least, this warming is associated with a massive decline in zooplankton populations (Roemmich & McGowan 1995).…”

Section: Climate Change Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems: a review of implications for policymakers and conservation biologists

Markham¹

1996

Clim. Res.

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ABSTRACT. Climate change represents a significant threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which has been ratified by 118 nations and came into force in 1994, has amongst its aims the protection of ecosystems. This paper reviews the relevant text in the Convention and gives an overview of scientific efforts to provide policymakers wlth the necessary information on ecosystem impacts. The sensitivity of different types of ecosystem to climatic change is discussed and the concepts of ecological limits and thresholds are addressed and examples given. The paper concludes there is a need for a better understanding of the impacts of climate change on ecosystem resilience in order to maintain biological diversity and respond to the needs of policymakers in implementing the UNFCCC. Recommendations are made for increased research effort, including increased resolution of climate models, better predictive capacity at a regional level for within-and between-year rainfall patterns, seasonality and extreme events. Collaborative monitoring programs, including long-term ecological research along climate gradients, are proposed for 4 biomes: coastal wetlands, montane ecosystems, coral reefs and Arctic ecosystems.

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Section: Climate Change Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems: a review of implications for policymakers and conservation biologists

Markham¹

1996

Clim. Res.

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“…Overall, the total extent of sea ice in the Arctic has been decreasing at an annual rate of approximately 3 -5% over the past two decades (Gloersen and Campbell, 1991;Johannessen et al, 1995;Maslanik et al, 1996;Bjørgo et al, 1997). To date, most of this decrease has occurred in the Siberian sector of the Arctic (Maslanik et al, 1996).…”

Section: Total Ice Cover and The Timing Of Breakup And Freeze-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term Trends in the Population Ecology of Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay in Relation to Climatic Change

Stirling¹,

Lunn²,

Iacozza³

1999

ARCTIC

431

536

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ABSTRACT. From 1981 through 1998, the condition of adult male and female polar bears has declined significantly in western Hudson Bay, as have natality and the proportion of yearling cubs caught during the open water period that were independent at the time of capture. Over this same period, the breakup of the sea ice on western Hudson Bay has been occurring earlier. There was a significant positive relationship between the time of breakup and the condition of adult females (i.e., the earlier the breakup, the poorer the condition of the bears). The trend toward earlier breakup was also correlated with rising spring air temperatures over the study area from 1950 to 1990. We suggest that the proximate cause of the decline in physical and reproductive parameters of polar bears in western Hudson Bay over the last 19 years has been a trend toward earlier breakup, which has caused the bears to come ashore in progressively poorer condition. The ultimate factor responsible for the earlier breakup in western Hudson Bay appears to be a long-term warming trend in April-June atmospheric temperatures.Key words: climatic change, Hudson Bay, polar bear, sea ice RÉSUMÉ. De 1981 à la fin de 1998, la condition physique de l'ours polaire adulte, mâle et femelle, s'est détériorée de façon importante dans l'ouest de la baie d'Hudson, tout comme le nombre de naissances et la proportion d'oursons de l'année pris durant la période d'eau libre, et qui étaient indépendants au moment de leur capture. Au cours de la même période, la débâcle de la banquise sur l'ouest de la baie d'Hudson s'est produite plus tôt. Il existait un lien très marqué entre le moment de la débâcle et la condition physique des femelles adultes (c.-à-d. que plus la débâcle se produisait tôt, plus les ourses étaient en mauvaise condition physique). La tendance à une débâcle précoce était également corrélée à l'augmentation de la température ambiante printanière dans la zone d'étude de 1950 à 1990. On suggère que la cause immédiate du déclin des paramètres physiques et reproducteurs de l'ours polaire dans l'ouest de la baie d'Hudson au cours des derniers 19 ans a été une tendance à une débâcle précoce, ce qui amené les ours à venir sur la terre ferme dans un état de plus en plus mauvais. Le facteur responsable de la débâcle précoce dans la baie d'Hudson semble être en fin de compte la tendance au réchauffement à long terme de l'atmosphère en avril et en juin.Mots clés: changements climatiques, baie d'Hudson, ours polaire, banquise Traduit pour la revue Arctic par Nésida Loyer.

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“…Although passive microwave observations of decreasing Arctic sea ice extent [Gloersen and Campbell, 1991;Johannessen et al, 1995] and shortening sea ice seasons [Parkinson, 1992] are consistent with Arctic warming, the possibility that such trends are attributable to local effects at the ice margins resulting from natural variations of large-scale atmospheric and/or oceanic circulation cannot be dismissed [Walsh, 1991] . Based on a sensitivity study, in which algorithm thresholds were varied over a much greater range than would be expected from instrument drift, the accuracy of the melt and freeze-up dates determined from the SSM/I is conservatively estimated to be +2 and +3 days respectively [Smith, 1998], although these are degraded by one day by the less frequent coverage of the SMMR.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent increase in the length of the melt season of perennial Arctic sea ice

Smith¹

1998

Geophysical Research Letters

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Abstract. General circulation models predict that greenhouse gas induced global warming will be amplified in the Arctic as a result of temperature-albedo feedback. Whilst recent observations of decreasing Arctic sea ice extent are consistent with this scenario, the possibility that such a trend is attributable to local effects at the ice margins rather than to atmospheric warming cannot be dismissed. In the absence of direct air temperature measurements, warming over Arctic sea ice may be inferred from an increasing duration of the summer melt season. Analysis presented here of the dates of spring melt and autumn freeze-up observed over a large Ëaction of perennial Arctic sea ice using passive microwave data from the SMMR and SSM/I from 1979 to 1996 reveals an increase of 5.3 days (8%) per decade in the number of melt days per summer.

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The Arctic's shrinking sea ice

Cited by 174 publications

References 10 publications

Potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems: a review of implications for policymakers and conservation biologists

Potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems: a review of implications for policymakers and conservation biologists

Long-term Trends in the Population Ecology of Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay in Relation to Climatic Change

Recent increase in the length of the melt season of perennial Arctic sea ice

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