More extreme weather in Arctic

Science Daily: A new study published in Climate Dynamics by Erik Kolstad and Thomas J. Bracegirdle reveals that one of the most visible signs of climate change is the dramatically reduced ice cover in the Arctic. The retreat of the sea ice leads to rapid changes in the weather conditions in these areas. The study reveals that regions that have been covered by sea ice until now will be exposed to new kinds of severe weather. This may have dire consequences for human activities in the Northern regions.

The study was led by a member of the International Polar Year project IPY-THORPEX (THe Observing system Research and Predictability EXperiment). The main focus of the project is to study extreme weather phenomena from the inside, with the purpose of acquiring new knowledge in order to improve weather forecasts. Large increases in the potential for extreme weather events were found along the entire southern rim of the Arctic Ocean, including the Barents, Bering and Beaufort Seas. While these areas are sparsely populated, an increasing commercial marine activity is predicted there, paradoxically because the sea ice is set to retreat.

"One consequence of climate change is that new areas are uncovered, opening for commercial activities," said Dr. Erik Kolstad, at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, who led the study. At the same time, commercial activities in the North (e.g. fisheries, oil industry and shipping) will become increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather as the activities in these areas increase. "It is important that we get better at forecasting these weather phenomena, in order to prevent the loss of human lives and environmental disasters in the future," Kolstad said….

1890 print of traveling via reindeer, Wikimedia Commons