J. Clim. http://doi.org/852 (2015)

Reduction in Arctic sea ice cover contributes to amplified warming in this region, and, at the same time, it can impact the climate in lower latitudes. The reach of these effects not only depends on the total sea ice loss but also on the geographic location of this loss, although this is not yet fully understood.

Credit: RASMUS A. PEDERSEN

Rasmus A. Pedersen, from the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, and colleagues investigate the effect of regional Arctic sea ice loss on local and more remote climates. They use model simulations to examine the atmospheric response to a decrease in sea ice cover in either the Atlantic or Pacific sectors.

Both scenarios result in overall warming over the Arctic and reduced winds in the mid-latitudes. However, important differences arise in the location of these effects. Melt in the Atlantic sector results in increased temperatures over Greenland, but when the melt occurs in the Pacific sector, this warming is not observed. Winds over Europe and Eastern Asia are reduced in both scenarios, but weaker winds over the Atlantic Ocean are only observed for ice loss in the Atlantic sector.

The different locations of the impacts of regional sea ice loss need to be considered in projections of climate change, particularly for the Greenland ice sheet.