Meier clean presentation_ppt

Whither Arctic Sea Ice? Walt Meier Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network May 9, 2011 http://nsidc.org Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado

The Cryosphere Snow and ice spans the globe, from the equator to the poles. The cryosphere is found in over 100 countries. Sea ice forms by the freezing of the ocean. Can occur from pole to over halfway to the equator in the north. Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) Cryosphere Theme Report Countries affected by the cryosphere

Sea ice extent varies through the year Mar = 15,000,000 km 2 Sep = 7,000,000 km 2 Mar = 4,000,000 km 2 Sep = 19,000,000 km 2 Average extent for 1979-2000 from satellite data Adapted from NSIDC Sea Ice Index http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/

Summer Arctic sea ice is declining -11.6% per decade 1979-2000 Average 2007: 39% below average 2008: 34% below average 2009: 24% below average 2010: 30% below average 1979-2000 Median Thanks to Matt Savoie, NSIDC

Heading into summer 2011… NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis, http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ Sea Ice Extent, May 7, 2011

Ice is getting younger and thinner Based on satellite observations; from J. Maslanik, C. Fowler, Univ. Colorado Sea ice moves with winds and currents. Moves out of Arctic along Greenland coast, replenished by new ice. 1981-2007 Weekly sea ice motion

Ice is getting younger and thinner Based on satellite observations; from J. Maslanik, C. Fowler, Univ. Colorado Much of older, thicker ice north of Alaska melting away during summer Mar 2010 – Mar 2011 Mar 1985 – Mar 1986

IPCC 4 th Assessment – Business as Usual Scenario Warming by the end of the 21 st Century: Global mean = 2.8 º C (~5 º F); Arctic = ~7 º C (~13 º F) º C IPCC 4 th Assessment, courtesy S. Solomon

Loss of summer sea ice decreases albedo 60% of energy reflected 40% of energy absorbed 10% of energy reflected 90% of energy absorbed The change from sea ice to ice-free ocean is the largest surface contrast on earth as far as solar energy is concerned With sea ice: α ≥ 60% Without sea ice: α ≤ 10% Ice Water

Sea Ice – Albedo Feedback Temperature ↑ Ice melt ↑ Albedo ↓ Energy absorption ↑ Heat ↑ Amplification of warming

The sea ice-albedo feedback observed % per year trend in solar heat input, 1979-2005 Open water absorbs more solar heat than sea ice during the summer Solar heat input from D. Perovich (CRREL)

The sea ice-albedo feedback observed % per year trend in solar heat input, 1979-2005 August 2007 SST Anomaly Open water absorbs more solar heat than sea ice during the summer The added heat warms the ocean (higher sea surface temperature [SST]) SST from NOAA and M. Steele, Univ. of Washington

Arctic Amplification observed Heat accumulated by ocean during summer must be dissipated to the atmosphere Enhanced atmospheric warming in autumn “ Arctic Amplification” From Serreze, et al., 2008; data from NOAA NCEP Autumn air temperature anomalies, (2003-2007) minus (1979-2007)

Observations faster than forecast by IPCC models Updated from Stroeve et al., 2007 Observations Model Average Model Range (+/- 1 st. dev.) Arctic September Average Sea Ice Extent IPCC AR4 models,1900-2100 Observations, 1953-2010

Impacts of loss of summer sea ice Photo by Mike Webber, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Biological impacts Ice-dependent species are threatened Polar bears, walrus, seals, some fishes, micro-organisms

Can polar bears be saved?? Stabilizating greenhouse gas emissions will stop decrease in sea ice extent  ice remains for bears and other animals “ Business as usual” to 2100 Stable GHG levels after 2020 10-year running average September sea ice extent Amstrup, S.C., et al. Nature , vol . 468, 16 December 2010.

Summer sea ice returns if CO 2 levels drop (as function of time) * Arctic September Average Sea Ice Extent NCAR Community Sea Ice Model Thanks to Marika Holland, NCAR CO 2 increases to 700 ppm by 2100 (A1B), then drops to 2000 level by 2200  Summer sea ice extent disappears, but returns as CO 2 level drops Sea ice responds directly to CO 2 levels: CO 2 rises  sea ice decreases CO 2 drops  sea ice increases No tipping point? (as function of CO2)

Biological impacts Central Arctic likely to become more productive (e.g., phytoplankton) with less ice Some species will be favored – e.g., sub-Arctic fishes, whales, and birds Difference in primary production from 2006 to 2007 redrawn from Arrigo et al., 2008

Coastal Erosion – Kivalina & Shishmaref, Alaska Erosion in Shishmaref, Oct. 2002 Storm 2 hours later AP/NY Times Shishmaref photos by Tony Weyiouanna Sr.

Sea ice loss opening up a new ocean New York Times, 10 Oct 2005 Reduced shipping distances Access to natural resources Some fisheries more productive? Lack of infrastructure Sovereignty issues

Already seeing impact of ice loss on climate Precipitation patterns changing due to the declining amount of summer sea ice Most of U.S. becomes drier with less summer sea ice Changes in Europe and Asia as well mm day -1 Precipitation change: Low ice years minus high ice years 1981-2007 J. Francis, Rutgers Univ.; Francis et al., Geophys. Res. Letters, 2009 U.S.

Can sea ice loss cause colder temperatures? Less sea ice Warmer Arctic (but still cold!) Lower temperature difference between high & mid-latitudes Easier for Arctic air to “leak” into USA, Europe

Cold spilling out of the Arctic NCEP/NCAR Reanalyses, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/reanalysis/ 850 mb Geopotential Height Dec-Feb 1968-1996 Avg. Feb 2010 Dec 2010 Arctic air “lower”, in a bowl Cold stays in the Arctic Cold air spills out of the Arctic Winter 2009-2010 Winter 2010-2011 Thanks to J. Overland, NOAA PMEL

Whither Arctic Sea Ice? Using Sea Ice Data in the Classroom AccessData Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/ Developed by: Walt Meier National Snow and Ice Data Center, Univ. Colorado Coop. Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences Betsy Youngman Phoenix Country Day School Mark McCaffrey Coop. Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences Anupma Prakash Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks Brian Rogan Boston Museum of Science

Whither Arctic Sea Ice? Using Sea Ice Data in the Classroom Use satellite data of sea ice to analyze trends and variability, 1979-present Case studies for various regions Impacts on people/wildlife Hudson Bay developed, others possible Imagery and animations for qualitative analysis Quantitative data for more involved analysis Uses ImageJ (freeware) for data/image analysis and processing MS Excel or other spreadsheet software for further data analysis http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/

Hudson Bay Case Study Timing of when ice leaves Hudson Bay and when it returns Examine trends and variability How might trends affect polar bears in future?

Resources on Arctic climate NOAA Arctic Change, http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/

SnowTweets Project R. Kelly, Univ. Waterloo, http://snowcore.uwaterloo.ca/snowtweets/

NSIDC resources Atlas of the Cryosphere, http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/ WMS, OCG compliant web map server Several Arctic layers – sea ice snow, permafrost, snow, geographic locations http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/

NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis Track Arctic sea ice daily Monthly interpretation of conditions More frequent posts during summer http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

NSIDC “Icelights” Highlight current sea ice research Address common questions http://nsidc.org/icelights/

NSIDC Education Center NSIDC Education Center Background info on: Sea ice Glaciers Snow Frozen ground Arctic climate http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/

NSIDC data on Google Earth Sea ice Animation and static images Snow Permafrost Glaciers Glacier photos NSIDC Data on GoogleEarth http://nsidc.org/data/virtual_globes/

For the Arctic, Climate Change is Already Here National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org All About the Cryosphere, nsidc.org/cryosphere/ Monthly sea ice data and images nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/ Arctic Sea Ice News nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ [email_address] Funding and Support from Thank You!

Meier clean presentation_ppt

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Meier clean presentation_ppt

Recently uploaded

Meier clean presentation_ppt

Editor's Notes