Climate Change in the Arctic

The Arctic has become increasingly prominent as having experienced some of the most rapid global warming and resulting impacts over the last 2–3 decades. Currently, many datasets are available for analyzing Arctic climate change. There are also numerous satellite data products available that document surface temperature, sea-ice changes, and many other meteorological and surface variables. A feedback is an amplifying or dampening process that either enhances or dampens an initial change: an example of the latter is Arctic amplification in response to global warming. The surface waters of the Arctic Ocean are characterized by a cold, shallow, relatively fresh layer, known as the Polar Mixed Layer (PML), overlying a high-gradient halocline at about 50–200m depth. Due to the thermal inertia of the oceans, sea-ice seasons lag behind the atmosphere's seasonal heating–cooling cycle by about two months, meaning that Arctic sea ice reaches its maximum coverage each year in March (September).