Tracking recent environmental changes Martin Jeffries 1 J E Overland 2 J A RichterMenge 3 and N N Soreide 2 1 Office of Naval Research amp University of Alaska Fairbanks Arlington VA ID: 648689
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2012 Arctic Report Card Tracking recent environmental changes
Martin Jeffries1, J. E. Overland2, J. A. Richter-Menge3, and N. N. Soreide21 Office of Naval Research & University of Alaska Fairbanks, Arlington, VA2 NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA3 US Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
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Arctic Report Card 2012
Sponsored by the Arctic Research Program in the NOAA Climate Program Office 6th annual update of the Arctic Report Card (first published in 2006)20 essays developed by 141 authors from 15 different countries Independent peer-review organized by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) of the international Arctic Council 2Slide3
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcartd/
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Headlines
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcartd/
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Highlights
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcartd/
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Video
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcartd/
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Detailed Essays
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcartd/
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What’s New in 2012?
Arctic Report Card 20128Slide9
Record-setting changesoccurring repeatedly & faster than expected
Record low Arctic sea ice extent & thickness
Record losses of Greenland ice sheet
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Record low June snow extent
in North America and EurasiaSlide10
Greenland ice sheet loss
Record-setting surface melting, ice area and volume losses.
Standardized Melt Index (SMI)
Area-averaged albedo (Jun-Aug)
Melt
Reflectivity
Loss of ice sheet mass
Jul 8, 2012
Jul 12, 2012
Melt Area
Rare July melt event impacted 97% of surface area
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Sea ice extent
The continued decline in sea ice is indicative of a shift to a new state of reduced sea ice coverage September 16, 2012
The minimum Arctic sea ice extent in 2012
was nearly half the values seen from 1979-2000.
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Older, thicker sea ice
continues to be replaced by younger, thinner sea iceJanuary 1987
January 2012
http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2012/arctic-sea-ice-getting-thinner-younger
Older, thicker sea ice shown in white
Sea ice
thickness
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Snow extent
June snow extent in the northern hemisphere set record lows repeatedly in the past 5 years in N America and Eurasia.
June 1971-2000
June 2012
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June snow extent has decreased faster (-17.6 % /decade)
than September sea ice extent (-13% /decade)
Impacts the length of the growing season, the timing and dynamics of spring river runoff, the ground thermal regime, and wildlife population dynamics. Slide14
Changes in Arctic marine ecosystem
Massive plankton blooms under thinning ice pack.New habitat for algae in “melt holes” in sea ice
Whale population impacts are uncertain. With sea ice declining, gray whales are remaining in the Arctic longer
Seabirds , indicators of changing marine conditions,
are showing changes in diet, foraging behavior and survival rates.
Under-ice phytoplankton bloom
Shifts in primary and secondary production have direct impacts on benthic communities
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“… profound, continuing changes in the Arctic marine ecosystem”Slide15
Land
Tundra, adjacent to the expanding ocean open in summer, is seeing an increase in biomass, greenness, length of growing season and summer warmth.Permafrost temperature below the tundra land surface is increasing partially due to greater summer warmth following the earlier retreat of the snow cover in spring
Permafrost temperatures
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Land
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Melting permafrost impacts infrastructure,
river runoff, vegetation, growing season, turndra firesSlide17
Land animals
Lemming (small rodent) population density decreasing, may be influenced by snow characteristicsArctic fox population linked to lemming (food) abundance and northward territorial expansion of the larger Red fox.
Strong regional variation in caribou and reindeer populations.
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Record low Arctic sea ice
extent & thickness
Record losses of Greenland ice sheet
Record low June snow extent
in North America and Eurasia
Record losses of Greenland ice sheet
Record low June snow extent
in North America and Eurasia
Arctic Report Card 2012
www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard
Multiple, record-breaking and recurring changes
provide strong evidence that the Arctic system
is entering a new state
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