The poleward enhanced Arctic Ocean cooling machine in a warming climate.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34016987.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-23321-7 and PMC identifier 8137913.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
As a cooling machine of the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea releases most of the incoming ocean heat originating from the North Atlantic. The related air-sea heat exchange plays a crucial role in both regulating the climate and determining the deep circulation in the Arctic Ocean and beyond. It was reported that the cooling efficiency of this cooling machine has decreased significantly. In this study, we find that the overall cooling efficiency did not really drop: When the cooling efficiency decreased in the southern Barents Sea, it increased in the northern Barents and Kara Seas, indicating that the cooling machine has expanded poleward. According to climate model projections, it is very likely that the cooling machine will continue to expand to the Kara Sea and then to the Arctic Basin in a warming climate. As a result, the Arctic Atlantification will be enhanced and pushed poleward in the future.