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Yueng-Djern Lenn, Bangor University; Benjamin Barton, Bangor University, and Camille Lique, Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (Ifremer)

The cold, remote Arctic Ocean and its surrounding marginal seas have experienced climate change at a rate not seen at lower latitudes. Warming air, land and sea temperatures, and large declines in seasonal Arctic sea ice cover are all symptoms of the changing Arctic climate. Although these changes are occurring in relatively remote locations, there is growing evidence to link Arctic sea ice retreat to increasingly erratic weather patterns over the northern hemisphere.

As sea ice declines, areas of open water increase, allowing the ocean to lose more heat to the atmosphere. Heat lost from the ocean to the atmosphere reduces the atmospheric pressure which provides more energy to storms and increases their cloud content through evaporation.

Les mer «Extreme weather in Europe linked to less sea ice and warming in the Barents Sea» →