Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Polar Oceans from Space pp 449–495Cite as

Decadal Changes, Correlations, and Trends

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 988 Accesses

Part of the book series: Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library ((ATSL,volume 41))

Abstract

While we are still grappling with fundamental questions about the root causes of observed changes in the polar regions, satellite sensors have provided us with extraordinary tools for evaluating the scope of these changes and for understanding how changes in the different observables may be related to each other. We analyze satellite or reanalysis data over a 26-year period in which data on surface temperature, sea ice cover, albedo, and sea level pressure are concurrently available. The difference of 13-year segments of the different variables are shown to be coherent and it is apparent that changes in one parameter are also observed in the other parameters. Correlations of surface temperature with sea ice concentration and albedo are very strong and possible connections between chlorophyll concentration with the ice cover and surface temperature have been identified in the early spring period. Drastic declines in the Arctic perennial and multiyear ice cover are also observed suggesting that profound changes are going on in the polar oceans.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdalati W (2006) Recent changes in high-latitude glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets. Weather 61(4):95-101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arblaster JM, MKeehl GA (2006) Contributions of external forcings to Southern Annular Mode. J Climate 19:2896-2905

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong RL, Brodzik MJ (2001) Recent northern hemisphere snow extent: a comparison of data derived from visible and microwave satellite sensors. Geophys Res Lett 28(19):3673-3676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arendt AA, Echelmeyer KA, Harrison WD, Lingle CS, Valentine VB (2002) Rapid wastage of Alaska glaciers and their contributionb to rising sea level. Science 297:382-386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broecker WS (1992) Global warming on trial. Natural History 4:6-14

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavalieri DJ, Gloersen P, Parkinson C, Comiso J, Zwally HJ (1997) Observed hemispheric asymmetry in global sea ice changes. Science 278(7):1104-1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso JC (2000) Variability and trends in Antarctic surface temperatures from in situ and satellite infrared measurements. J Climate 13:1674-1696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso JC, McClain C, Sullivan C, Ryan J, Leonard CL (1993) CZCS pigment concentrations in the Southern Ocean and their relationships to some geophysical parameters. J Geophys Res 98(C2):2419-2451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso JC (2002) A rapidly declining Arctic perennial ice cover. Geophys Res Lett 29(20):1956, doi:10.1029/2002GL015650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso JC, Parkinson CL, Gersten R, Stock LV (2008) Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophy Res Lett 35:L01703, doi:10.1029/2007GL031972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comiso JC (2006) Arctic warming signals from satellite observations. Weather 61(3):70-76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deser C, Walsh JE, Timlin MS (2000) Arctic sea ice variability in the context of recent atmospheric circulation trends. J Clim 13:617-633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doran PT, Priscu JC, Lyons WB, Walsh JE, Fountain AG, McKnight DM, Moorhead DL, Virginia, RA, Wall DH, Clow GD, Fritsen CH, McKay CP, Parsons AN (2002) Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response. Nature doi:10.1038/nature710

    Google Scholar 

  • Frohlich C (2000) Observations of irradiance variations. Space Sci Rev 94:15-24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanna E (1996) The role of Antarctic sea ice in global climate change. Prog Phys Geogr 20(4):371-401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen J, Ruedy R, Sato M, Imhoff M, Lawrence W, Easterling D, Peterson T, Karl T (2001) A closer look at United States and global surface temperature change. J Geophys Res 106:23947-23963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland MM, Bitz CM (2003) Polar amplification of climate change in coupled models. Clim Dyn 23:221-232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs S (2006) Observations of change in the Southern Ocean. Phil Trans R Soc A, doi:10.1098/rsta.2006.1794

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen OM (2008) Decreasing Arctic sea ice mirrors increasing CO2 on decadal time scale. Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters 1:51-56

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones PD, New M, Parker DE, Marin S, Rigor IG (1999) Surface air temperature and its changes over the past 150 years. Rev Geophys 37:173-199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karl TR, Trenberth KE (2003) Modern climate change. Science 302(5):1719-1723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok R, Cunningham GF, Wensnahan M, Rigor I, Zwally HJ, Yi D (2009) Thinning and volume loss of the Arctic Ocean sea ice cover:2003-20089, J Geophys Res 114, C07005, doi:10.1029/2009JC005312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller RL, Schmidt GA, Shindell DT (2006) Forced annular variations in the 20th century Intergovernmental panel on climate change fourth assessment report models. J Geophys Res 111, D18101, doi:10.1029/2005JD006323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell BG, Brody E, Yeh EN, McClain C, Comiso JC, Maynard NC (1991) Meridional zonation of the Barents Sea ecosystem inferred from satellite remote sensing and in-situ bio-optical observations, Pro Mare symposium. Polar Res 10(1):147-162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monaghan AJ, Bromwich DH, Chapman W, Comiso JC (2008) Recent variability and trends of Antarctic near-surface temperature. J Geophys Res 113, D04105, doi:10.1029/2007JD009094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller-Karger FE, McClain CR, Sambrotto RN, Ray GC (1990) A comparison of ship and coastal zone color scanner mapped distribution of phytoplankton the southereastern Bering Sea. J Geophys Res 95()97):11,483-11,500

    Google Scholar 

  • Overland JE, Wang M (2005) The Arctic climate paradox: the recent decrease of the Arctic oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 32:L06701, doi:10.1029/2004GL021752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platt T, Sathyendranath S, Longhurst A (1995) Remote sensing of primary production in the ocean: promise and fulfillment. Phil Trans R Soc Lond Series B 348:191-202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romanosky VE, Osterkamp TE (2006) Interannual variations of the thermal regime of the active layer and near-surface permafrost in northern Alaska, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 6(4):313-335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothrock DA, Yu Y, Maykut GA (1999) Thinning of the Arctic sea-ice cover. Geophys Res Lett 26(23):3469-3472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serreze MC, Holland MM, Stroeve J (2007) Perspective on the Arctic’s shrinking sea-ice cover. Science 315:1533-1536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shibata A, Murakami H, Comiso JC (2010) Anomalous Warming in the Arctic Ocean in the Summer of 2007, Japan J. Remote Sensing (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith Jr WO, Keene NK, Comiso JC (1988) Potential interannual variability in primary productivity of the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone. In: D. Sahrhage (ed) Antarctic Ocean and resources variability. Springer, New York, pp 131-139

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer RW (2008) Climate confusion, Encounter Books, New York, 191 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamerjohn, Smith (1997) - 10.2.2

    Google Scholar 

  • Steig EJ, Schneider DP, Rutherford SD, Mann ME, Comiso JC, Shindell DT (2009) Warming of the Antarctic ice sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year. Nature 457:459-463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan CW, Arrigo KR, McClain CR, Comiso JC, Firestone J (1993) Distributions of phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Science 262:1832-1837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DWJ, Solomon S (2002) Interpretation of recent southern hemisphere climate change. Science 296:895-899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker III WB, Weatherly JW, Eppler DT, Farmer LD, BEntley DL (2001) Evidence for rapid thinning of sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean at the end of the 1980s. Geophys Res Letts 28:2851-2854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner J, Comiso JC, Marshall GJ, Connolley WM, Lachlan-Cope TA, Bracegirdle T, Wang Z, Meredith M, Maksym T (2009) Antarctic sea ice extent increases as a result of anthropogenic activity. Geophy Res Lett 36:L08502, doi:10.1029/2009GL037524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vant MR, Gray RB, Ramseier RO, Makios V (1974) Dielectric properties of fresh and sea ice at 10 and 35 GHz. J Applied Physics 45(11):4712-4717

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh JE (2008) Climate of the Arctic Marine Environment. Ecological Applications 18(2):S3-S22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Comiso JC, Krishfield R, Honjo S (2001) The role of synoptic storms in the development of the 1997 warming and freshening event in the Beaufort Sea. Geophys Res Lett 28(5):799-802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zwally HJ, Gloersen P (2008) Arctic sea ice surviving the summer melt interannual variability and decreasing trend. J Glaciol 54(185):279-296

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cryospheric Sciences Branch, Code 614.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Josefino Comiso

Authors
  1. Josefino Comiso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josefino Comiso .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 United States Government as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Comiso, J. (2010). Decadal Changes, Correlations, and Trends. In: Polar Oceans from Space. Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library, vol 41. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68300-3_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation