Consequences of Arctic Warming for European Climate and Extreme Weather
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Mathematics
Abstract
The Arctic region is undergoing dramatic changes, in the atmosphere, ocean, ice and on land. The Arctic lower atmosphere is warming at more than twice the rate of the global average, the Arctic sea ice and Greenland Ice Sheet melt have accelerated in the past 30 years. Notable observed changes in the ocean include the freshening of the Beaufort Gyre, and 'Atlantification' of the Barents Sea and of the Eastern Arctic Ocean. Such profound environmental change is likely to have implications across the globe - it is often said, "What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic". Past work has indicated that Arctic amplification can, in principle, affect European climate and extreme weather, but a clear picture of how and why is currently lacking. The 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere concluded "changes in Arctic sea ice have the potential to influence midlatitude weather, but there is low confidence in the detection of this influence for specific weather types".
ArctiCONNECT brings together experts in climate dynamics, polar and subpolar oceanography, and extreme weather, in order to transform understanding of the effects of accelerating Arctic warming on European climate and extreme weather, through an innovative and integrative program of research bridging theory, models of varying complexity, and observations. It will (i) uncover the atmospheric and oceanic mechanisms of Arctic influence on Europe; (ii) determine the ability of state-of-the-art climate models to simulate realistic Arctic-to-Europe teleconnections; and (iii) quantify and understand the contribution of Arctic warming to projected changes in European weather extremes and to the hazards posed to society.
ArctiCONNECT brings together experts in climate dynamics, polar and subpolar oceanography, and extreme weather, in order to transform understanding of the effects of accelerating Arctic warming on European climate and extreme weather, through an innovative and integrative program of research bridging theory, models of varying complexity, and observations. It will (i) uncover the atmospheric and oceanic mechanisms of Arctic influence on Europe; (ii) determine the ability of state-of-the-art climate models to simulate realistic Arctic-to-Europe teleconnections; and (iii) quantify and understand the contribution of Arctic warming to projected changes in European weather extremes and to the hazards posed to society.
Publications
Cornish SB
(2023)
Impact of sea ice transport on Beaufort Gyre liquid freshwater content.
in Climate dynamics
Cornish SB
(2022)
Rise and fall of sea ice production in the Arctic Ocean's ice factories.
in Nature communications
Cornish S
(2021)
Rise and fall of ice production in the Arctic Ocean's ice factories
Chatterjee S
(2023)
Ocean response to reduced Arctic sea ice in PAMIP simulations.
Cai Z
(2024)
Assessing Arctic wetting: Performances of CMIP6 models and projections of precipitation changes
in Atmospheric Research
Blackport R
(2020)
Weakened evidence for mid-latitude impacts of Arctic warming
in Nature Climate Change
Blackport R
(2021)
Observed Statistical Connections Overestimate the Causal Effects of Arctic Sea Ice Changes on Midlatitude Winter Climate
in Journal of Climate
Blackport R
(2020)
Insignificant effect of Arctic amplification on the amplitude of midlatitude atmospheric waves.
in Science advances
Blackport R
(2022)
Arctic change reduces risk of cold extremes.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Blackport R
(2021)
Decreasing subseasonal temperature variability in the northern extratropics attributed to human influence
in Nature Geoscience