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Recent Variability in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas

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Abstract

The Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas have been undergoing significant changes, particularly evident throughout the past few decades. In this paper, we examine the declining sea ice extent in the Arctic (− 0.0639 million km2 year−1), the increasing sea surface temperature (approximately 0.014 °C year−1 in the Arctic Ocean to 0.03 °C year−1 in the subarctic Atlantic) and sea surface height (2.2 mm year−1 in the Arctic Ocean to 2.4 mm year−1 in the subarctic Atlantic), and changing patterns of sea surface salinity using a variety of reanalysis and observational data products from 1990 to 2017. The Amerasian Basin, particularly the Beaufort Gyre, has been freshening, concurrent with a salinification of the Laptev, Barents, and Greenland Seas, all of which are due to a shift towards a more anticyclonic circulation regime, shift in freshwater storage, and ice melt. Even as this regime began to weaken in the past decade, the freshening in the Beaufort Gyre continued. When comparing these variables to climate indices, we found an important connection between the Arctic Ocean Oscillation (AOO), sea surface height, sea surface temperatures, and ocean heat content in the subarctic Atlantic region, indicating more widespread impacts of atmospheric circulation changes in the Arctic region. These connections show that changes in the cyclonicity of the Arctic Ocean can impact output to the subarctic Atlantic region, which affects the heat and sea level of the region.

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Acknowledgments

CMEMS sea surface height is obtained from Copernicus (http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio/access-to-products/). EN 4.2.1 produced by the UK Met Office (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/en4/download-en4-2-1.html). Sea ice extent produced by NOAA/NSIDC (ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/pub/DATASETS/NOAA/G02202_V3/north/monthly/). The NAO index is provided by NOAA’s CPC (https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/norm.nao.monthly.b5001.current.ascii). The AOO index is provided by WHOI’s Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=66578). We are thankful for the helpful comments of the editor and anonymous reviewers, which improved the quality of this paper.

Availability of Data and Material

CMEMS sea surface height is obtained from Copernicus (http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio/access-to-products/). EN 4.2.1 produced by the UK Met Office (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/en4/download-en4-2-1.html). Sea ice extent produced by NOAA/NSIDC (ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/pub/DATASETS/NOAA/G02202_V3/north/monthly/).

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  1. School of the Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Rachel E. Nichols & Bulusu Subrahmanyam

  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, NC, 28801, USA

    Anthony Arguez

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  1. Rachel E. Nichols
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Nichols, R.E., Subrahmanyam, B. & Arguez, A. Recent Variability in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas. Remote Sens Earth Syst Sci 3, 44–54 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41976-020-00035-w

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