Extreme weather events tied to loss of Arctic sea ice

NASA image captured this true-color image on August 14, 2011. The clouds parted over the northeast Barents Sea region of the Arctic Ocean in late summer, 2011 allowing a view of the ice-covered islands of Franz Josef Land, Russia forming a stark-white contrast to the surrounding dark sea water. (Creative Commons photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.)
NASA image captured this true-color image on August 14, 2011. The clouds parted over the northeast Barents Sea region of the Arctic Ocean in late summer, 2011 allowing a view of the ice-covered islands of Franz Josef Land, Russia forming a stark-white contrast to the surrounding dark sea water. (Creative Commons photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.)

‘Snowpoclypse’, ‘Snowmageddon’, ‘Frankenstorm’, and this year’s ‘Polar Vortex’ are all names that were attached to recent extreme winter weather events in the Lower 48.

Climate change skeptics frequently refer to those storms as potential evidence that global warming is a hoax. But it may actually be the opposite, according to recent research focused on the continued loss of Arctic sea ice and its relationship with the atmosphere.

Less Arctic sea ice in the Barents and Kara Seas in November and December means more heat energy escapes from the ocean into the atmosphere, the report found. That weakens the polar vortex that holds cold air within the Arctic region. As the atmosphere changes, cold air from the vortex spreads down to the middle latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia and creates colder temperatures in January and February.

The research used observational data and climate model experiments.

It was conducted by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center along with other scientists at the Korea Polar Research Institute, Seoul National University, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.

The research was published this month in the journal Nature Communications.

The lead author of the study, Xiandong Zhang of the International Arctic Research Center, is currently unavailable to comment on the research.

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