Arctic sea ice is shrinking as the world continues to warm, and a new study led by researchers at Penn State may provide a better understanding of how the loss of this ice may impact daily weather in the middle latitudes, like the United States.
Arctic sea ice is shrinking as the world continues to warm, and a new study led by researchers at Penn State may provide a better understanding of how the loss of this ice may impact daily weather in the middle latitudes, like the United States.
The researchers used climate models and a machine learning approach to tease out the impacts of ice sea loss on the future of large-scale meteorological patterns over North America. They reported in the Journal of Climate that ice sea loss de-amplified these patterns and their impacts on temperature near the surface — meaning, for example, cold weather events may be less cold.
“The Arctic in general is the source of cold air for us when we have these really cold events,” said Melissa Gervais, assistant professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State and lead author of the study. “As warming continues, we know that the Arctic is going to be less cold. What this work shows us is that the loss of sea ice also changes weather patterns that bring cold air to the middle latitudes. So, warming both depletes your source of cold air and makes it harder to transport.”
Read more at: Penn State University
Ice breaking up on the surface of the Arctic Ocean. (Photo Credit: Provided by Melissa Gervais)
