Changes in the Ice-Free Period Duration in the Kara Sea Coastal Zone from Satellite Data

Oceanology - The rapid Arctic Sea ice shrinkage in the 21st century leads to an increase in the duration of the ice-free period in the Arctic Ocean seas. The ice-free period duration is an...     

Arctic climate changes and possible conditions of Arctic navigation in the 21st century

Assessments of current and expected climatic changes in the Arctic Basin are obtained, including ice-cover characteristics influencing the duration of the navigation season on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along Eurasia and the Northwest Passage (NWP) along North America. The ability of modern climate models to simulate the average duration of the navigation season and its changes over recent decades is estimated. The duration of the navigation season for the NSR and NWP in the 21st century is estimated using an ensemble of climate models. The assessments differ significantly for the NSR and NWP. Unlike the NSR, the NWP reveals no large changes in the navigation season in the first 30 years of the 21st century. From the multimodel simulations, the expected duration of the navigation period by the late 21st century will be approximately 3 to 6 months for the NSR and 2 to 4 months for the NWP under the moderate anthropogenic SRES-A1B scenario.     

21世纪格陵兰冰川融化速率对海平面变化的影响

本文利用大洋环流模式POP研究RCP4.5情景下21世纪格陵兰冰川不同的融化速率对全球及区域海平面变化的影响。结果显示:当格陵兰冰川的融化速率以每年1%增加时,全球大部分海域的动力和比容海平面变化基本不变,主要是由于格陵兰冰川在低速融化时并不会导致大西洋经向翻转流减弱。当格陵兰冰川的融化速率以每年3%和每年7%增加时,动力海平面在北大西洋副极地、大西洋热带、南大西洋副热带和北冰洋海域呈现出显著的上升趋势,这是因为格陵兰冰川快速融化导致大量的淡水输入附近海域,造成该上层海洋层化加强和深对流减弱,导致大西洋经向翻转流显著减弱;与此同时,热比容海平面在北冰洋、格陵兰岛南部海域和大西洋副热带海域显著下降,而在热带大西洋和湾流海域明显上升;此时盐比容海平面的变化与热比容海平面是反相的,这是由于大量的低温低盐水的输入,造成北大西洋副极地海域变冷变淡、大西洋经向翻转流和热盐环流显著减弱,引起了太平洋向北冰洋的热通量和淡水通量减少,导致了北冰洋海水变冷变淡,同时热带大西洋滞留了更多的高温高盐水,随着湾流被带到北大西洋,北大西洋副极地海域低温低盐的海水,被风生环流输运到副热带海域。     

Changes in climatic characteristics of Northern Hemisphere extratropical land in the 21st century: Assessments with the IAP RAS climate model

Assessments of future changes in the climate of Northern Hemisphere extratropical land regions have been made with the IAP RAS climate model (CM) of intermediate complexity (which includes a detailed scheme of thermo- and hydrophysical soil processes) under prescribed greenhouse and sulfate anthropogenic forcing from observational data for the 19th and 20th centuries and from the SRES B1, A1B, and A2 scenarios for the 21st century. The annual mean warming of the extratropical land surface has been found to reach 2–5 K (3–10 K) by the middle (end) of the 21st century relative to 1961–1990, depending on the anthropogenic forcing scenario, with larger values in North America than in Europe. Winter warming is greater than summer warming. This is expressed in a decrease of 1–4 K (or more) in the amplitude of the annual harmonic of soil-surface temperature in the middle and high latitudes of Eurasia and North America. The total area extent of perennially frozen ground S _p in the IAP RAS CM changes only slightly until the late 20th century, reaching about 21 million km², and then decreases to 11–12 million km² in 2036–2065 and 4–8 million km² in 2071–2100. In the late 21st century, near-surface permafrost is expected to remain only in Tibet and in central and eastern Siberia. In these regions, depths of seasonal thaw exceed 1 m (2 m) under the SRES B1 (A1B or A2) scenario. The total land area with seasonal thaw or cooling is expected to decrease from the current value of 54–55 million km² to 38–42 in the late 21st century. The area of Northern Hemisphere snow cover in February is also reduced from the current value of 45–49 million km² to 31–37 million km². For the basins of major rivers in the extratropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, runoff is expected to increase in central and eastern Siberia. In European Russia and in southern Europe, runoff is projected to decrease. In western Siberia (the Ob watershed), runoff would increase under the SRES A1B and A2 scenarios until the 2050s–2070s, then it would decrease to values close to present-day ones; under the anthropogenic forcing scenario SRES B1, the increase in runoff will continue up to the late 21st century. Total runoff from Eurasian rivers into the Arctic Ocean in the IAP RAS CM in the 21st century will increase by 8–9% depending on the scenario. Runoff from the North American rivers into the Arctic Ocean has not changed much throughout numerical experiments with the IAP RAS CM.     

Simulation of climate changes in the 20th–22nd centuries with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model

The results of numerical experiments with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model on the reproduction of climate changes during the 20th century and on the simulation of possible climate changes during the 21st–22nd centuries according to three IPCC scenarios of variations in the concentrations of greenhouse and other gases, as well as the results of the experiments with the doubled and quadruple concentrations of CO₂, are considered. An increase in the near-surface air temperature during the 20th century and the features of the observed climate changes, such as warming in 1940–1950 and its slowing down in 1960–1970, are adequately reproduced in the model. According to the model, the air-temperature increase during the 22nd century (as compared to the end of the 20th century) varies from 2 K for the most moderate scenario to 5 K for the warmest scenario. This estimate is somewhat lower than the expected warming averaged over the data of all models presented in the third IPCC report. According to model data, in the 22nd century, under all scenarios, at the end of summer, a complete or almost complete sea-ice melting will occur in the Arctic. According to the model, by the year 2200, the sea level will vary by 20 to 45 cm as compared to the level at the end of the 20th century.     

北极各海域海冰覆盖范围的变化特征

Sea ice in the Arctic has been reducing rapidly in the past half century due to global warming.This study analyzes the variations of sea ice extent in the entire Arctic Ocean and its sub regions.The results indicate that sea ice extent reduction during 1979–2013 is most significant in summer,following by that in autumn,winter and spring.In years with rich sea ice,sea ice extent anomaly with seasonal cycle removed changes with a period of 4–6 years.The year of 2003–2006 is the ice-rich period with diverse regional difference in this century.In years with poor sea ice,sea ice margin retreats further north in the Arctic.Sea ice in the Fram Strait changes in an opposite way to that in the entire Arctic.Sea ice coverage index in melting-freezing period is an critical indicator for sea ice changes,which shows an coincident change in the Arctic and sub regions.Since 2002,Region C2 in north of the Pacific sector contributes most to sea ice changes in the central Aarctic,followed by C1 and C3.Sea ice changes in different regions show three relationships.The correlation coefficient between sea ice coverage index of the Chukchi Sea and that of the East Siberian Sea is high,suggesting good consistency of ice variation.In the Atlantic sector,sea ice changes are coincided with each other between the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea as a result of warm inflow into the Kara Sea from the Barents Sea.Sea ice changes in the central Arctic are affected by surrounding seas.     

Modeling erosion of sedimentary coasts in the western Russian Arctic

Morphodynamic modeling is employed in the present work to predict the long-term evolution (over the next 100 years) of typical sedimentary coasts in the western Russian Arctic. The studied objects are the coasts of Varandey (the Barents Sea), Baydaratskaya Bay and Harasavey (the Kara Sea). The model developed takes into account both the short-term processes (storm events) and long-term factors (for example, changes in sea level, inter-annual variations in gross sediment flux, lack or excess of sediment supply). Predicted and observed morphological changes in coastal profiles are shown to agree well for time scales ranging from weeks to decades. It is revealed that under given environmental conditions, the morphological evolution is strongly influenced by storm surges and associated wind-driven circulation. The water level gradient created by a surge generates a seaward flow at the bed. This outflow is shown to be an important destructive mechanism contributing to the erosion and recession of Arctic coasts. The rate of change is found to depend on both the exposure of the coast (relative to the direction of dominant winds) and its height above the sea. The open coast of Varandey is expected to retreat as much as 300–500 m over 100 years, while recession of the less exposed coasts of Baydaratskaya Bay would not exceed about 100 m/century. If long-term sediment losses are insignificant, the rate of erosion decays with time and the morphodynamic system may tend toward equilibrium. It is concluded that the expected relative sea-level rise (up to 1 m over the nearest 100 years) is non-crucial to the future coastal evolution if an erosion activity is already high enough.     

海平面上升对中国沿海地区极值水位重现期的影响

基于中国沿海10个验潮站资料,利用皮尔森Ⅲ型(P-Ⅲ)模型探讨了典型浓度路径(Representative Concentration Pathway,RCP)情景下21世纪海平面上升对中国沿海地区极值水位重现期的影响。结果表明:海平面上升将显著缩短极值水位的重现期。在RCP8.5情景下极值水位的重现期缩短最为显著。预估到2050年,在RCP8.5情景下,所研究的中国沿海地区潮位站的百年一遇极值水位将变为9~43 a一遇。到2100年,在RCP8.5情景下,百年一遇极值水位变为1~18 a一遇。当前极值水位的低概率事件将在2100年变得普遍,在RCP8.5情景下,到2100年千年一遇的几乎每两百年发生一次。由于极值水位的重现期会随着气候变化而缩短,未来沿海地区将会面临更严峻的风险与挑战。     

Estimation of changes in characteristics of the climate and carbon cycle in the 21st century accounting for the uncertainty of terrestrial biota parameter values

ensemble simulations with the A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS) climate model (CM) for the 21st century are analyzed taking into account anthropogenic forcings in accordance with the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2, A1B, and B1, whereas agricultural land areas were assumed to change in accordance with the Land Use Harmonization project scenarios. Different realizations within these ensemble experiments were constructed by varying two governing parameters of the terrestrial carbon cycle. The ensemble simulations were analyzed with the use of Bayesian statistics, which makes it possible to suppress the influence of unrealistic members of these experiments on their results. It is established that, for global values of the main characteristics of the terrestrial carbon cycle, the SRES scenarios used do not differ statistically from each other, so within the framework of the model, the primary productivity of terrestrial vegetation will increase in the 21st century from 74 ± 1 to 102 ± 13 PgC yr⁻¹ and the carbon storage in terrestrial vegetation will increase from 511 ± 8 to 611 ± 8 PgC (here and below, we indicate the mean ± standard deviations). The mutual compensation of changes in the soil carbon stock in different regions will make global changes in the soil carbon storage in the 21st century statistically insignificant. The global CO₂ uptake by terrestrial ecosystems will increase in the first half of the 21st century, whereupon it will decrease. The uncertainty interval of this variable in the middle (end) of the 21st century will be from 1.3 to 3.4 PgC yr⁻¹ (from 0.3 to 3.1 PgC yr⁻¹). In most regions, an increase in the net productivity of terrestrial vegetation (especially outside the tropics), the accumulation of carbon in this vegetation, and changes in the amount of soil carbon stock (with the total carbon accumulation in soils of the tropics and subtropics and the regions of both accumulation and loss of soil carbon at higher latitudes) will be robust within the ensemble in the 21st century, as will the CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere only by terrestrial ecosystems located at extratropical latitudes of Eurasia, first and foremost by the Siberian taiga. However, substantial differences in anthropogenic emissions between the SRES scenarios in the 21st century lead to statistically significant differences between these scenarios in the carbon dioxide uptake by the ocean, the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, and changes in the surface air temperature. In particular, according to the SRES A2 (A1B, B1) scenario, in 2071–2100 the carbon flux from the atmosphere to the ocean will be 10.6 ± 0.6 PgC yr⁻¹ (8.3 ± 0.5, 5.6 ± 0.3 PgC yr⁻¹), and the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will reach 773 ± 28 ppmv (662 ± 24, 534 ± 16 ppmv) by 2100. The annual mean warming in 2071–2100 relatively to 1961–1990 will be 3.19 ± 0.09 K (2.52 ± 0.08, 1.84 ± 0.06 K).     

On the future navigability of Arctic sea routes: High-resolution projections of the Arctic Ocean and sea ice

The rapid Arctic summer sea ice reduction in the last decade has lead to debates in the maritime industries on the possibility of an increase in cargo transportation in the region. Average sailing times on the North Sea Route along the Siberian Coast have fallen from 20 days in the 1990s to 11 days in 2012–2013, attributed to easing sea ice conditions along the Siberian coast. However, the economic risk of exploiting the Arctic shipping routes is substantial. Here a detailed high-resolution projection of ocean and sea ice to the end of the 21st century forced with the RCP8.5 IPCC emission scenario is used to examine navigability of the Arctic sea routes. In summer, opening of large areas of the Arctic Ocean previously covered by pack ice to the wind and surface waves leads to Arctic pack ice cover evolving into the Marginal Ice Zone. The emerging state of the Arctic Ocean features more fragmented thinner sea ice, stronger winds, ocean currents and waves. By the mid 21st century, summer season sailing times along the route via the North Pole are estimated to be 13–17 days, which could make this route as fast as the North Sea Route.     

变暖背景下北极海冰减少在冬季北半球高纬大陆降雪增加中的作用

过去的几个冬季中,北美、欧洲、西伯利亚和东亚大部分地区经历了冷冬和强降雪,而这与北极海冰的快速减少有关。尽管北极海冰减少在冷冬和强降雪中的作用仍存在争议,但这种新兴的气候反馈在未来变暖背景下是否会持续仍值得关注。中等排放情境下的气候模式模拟结果揭示,欧洲东北部、亚洲中部北部、北美北部的冬季降雪增加会成为贯穿21世纪的一个稳健的特征。21世纪这些区域冬季降雪增加的主要原因是北极秋季海冰的减少（很大的外部强迫）,而冬季北极涛动的变化（北半球主要的自然变化形态）对降雪增加的作用很小。这一结果不仅体现在多模式平均上,而且每个单独模式的结果依然如此。我们认为海冰-降雪之间的强反馈作用可能已经出现,并且在接下来的几十年中这种强反馈作用可能会增强,北半球高纬地区的强降雪事件也会增加。     

Predictive modeling of plant productivity in the Russian Arctic using satellite data

The NOAA satellite data for 1982–2012 are used to analyze current changes in plant productivity of the Russian boreal and tundra zones. Trends in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are calculated separately for the vegetation zones in the European, West Siberian, East Siberian, and Far East sectors of the Russian Arctic and are compared with each other. This index is the normalized difference in reflectance between the red and infrared regions of the spectrum and is widely used as an indicator of the photosynthetically active biomass amount. Multifactorial statistical analysis is used to analyze the link between the plant productivity characterized by NDVI and predictive climatic indices characterizing the temperature regime and precipitation. A statistical model is developed on the basis of the resulting set of regression equations and is used with a climatic projection to predict plant productivity changes across the zonal gradient from northern tundra to boreal forests. According to our results, the current increase in plant productivity, which is observed in all vegetation zones in the Arctic, will continue in the coming decades. By the mid-21st century, productivity may increase by as much as 30% of its current value in selected zones of arctic vegetation.     

Quantifying the contribution of natural variability to September Arctic sea ice decline

Arctic sea ice extent has been declining in recent decades. There is ongoing debate on the contribution of natural internal variability to recent and future Arctic sea ice changes. In this study, we contrast the trends in the forced and unforced simulations of carefully selected global climate models with the extended observed Arctic sea ice records. The results suggest that the natural variability explains no more than 42.3% of the observed September sea ice extent trend during 35 a(1979–2013) satellite observations, which is comparable to the results of the observed sea ice record extended back to 1953(61 a, less than 48.5% natural variability). This reinforces the evidence that anthropogenic forcing plays a substantial role in the observed decline of September Arctic sea ice in recent decades. The magnitude of both positive and negative trends induced by the natural variability in the unforced simulations is slightly enlarged in the context of increasing greenhouse gases in the 21st century.However, the ratio between the realizations of positive and negative trends change has remained steady, which enforces the standpoint that external forcing will remain the principal determiner of the decreasing Arctic sea ice extent trend in the future.     

Sea ice evolution over the 20th and 21st centuries as simulated by current AOGCMs

Outputs from simulations performed with current atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for the Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR4) are used to investigate the evolution of sea ice over the 20th and 21st centuries. We first use the results from the “Climate of the 20th Century Experiment” to assess the ability of these models to reproduce the observed sea ice cover changes over the periods 1981–2000 and 1951–2000. The projected sea ice changes over the 21st century in response to the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios A1B are then examined. Overall, there is a large uncertainty in simulating the present-day sea ice coverage and thickness and in predicting sea ice changes in both hemispheres. Over the period 1981–2000, we find that the multimodel average sea ice extent agrees reasonably well with observations in both hemipsheres despite the wide differences between the models. The largest uncertainties appear in the Southern Hemisphere. The climate change projections over the 21st century reveal that the annual mean sea ice extent decreases at similar rates in both hemispheres, and that the reduction in annual mean sea ice volume is about twice that of sea ice extent reduction in the Northern Hemisphere, in agreement with earlier studies. We show that the amplitude of the seasonal cycle of sea ice extent increases in both hemispheres in a warming climate, with a larger magnitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, it appears that the seasonal cycle of ice extent is more affected than the one of ice volume. By the end of the 21st century, half of the model population displays an ice-free Arctic Ocean in late summer.     

水温变暖对西北太平洋柔鱼潜在栖息地分布的影响

根据影响西北太平洋柔鱼栖息地分布的主导环境因子—海表面温度,基于最大熵模型,利用1996-2005年气候历史数据和两种不同情景（RCP4.5和RCP8.5）下的气候预估数据,分析了1996-2005年、2021-2030年、2051-2060年、2090-2100年主要捕捞月份（7-10月）柔鱼潜在栖息地变化。结果表明,柔鱼渔场纬度方向空间分布呈季节性南北移动;随着未来气候变化,在RCP4.5和RCP8.5两种情景下,2021-2030年、 2051-2060年、 2090-2100年7-10月柔鱼潜在栖息地分布较1996-2005年7-10月均呈现向北极移动趋势,适宜面积增加。推测柔鱼渔场季节性南北移动可能受各月适宜海表面温度范围变化的影响,在RCP4.5情景下,到21世纪末,各月柔鱼潜在最适宜生境向北移动1°～2°,适宜面积增加3%～13%;在RCP8.5情景下,到21世纪末,各月柔鱼潜在最适宜生境向北移动3°～5°,适宜面积增加42%～80%。     

CMIP5模式对南海SST的模拟和预估

分析了32个CMIP5模式对南海历史海表温度(SST)的模拟能力和不同排放情景下未来SST变化的预估。通过检验各气候模式对南海历史SST增温趋势和均方差的模拟,发现大部分模式都能较好地模拟出南海20世纪历史SST的基本特征和变化规律,但也有部分模式的模拟存在较大偏差。尽管这些模拟偏差较大的模式对SST多模式集合平均的影响不大,但会增加未来情景预估的不确定性。剔除15个模式后,分析了南海SST在RCP26、RCP45和RCP85三种排放情景下的变化趋势,发现在未来百年呈明显的增温趋势,多模式集合平均的增温趋势分别为0.42、1.50和3.30℃/(100a)。这些增温趋势在空间上变化不大,但随时间并不是均匀变化的。在前两种排放情景下,21世纪前期的增温趋势明显强于后期,而在RCP85情景下,21世纪后期的增温趋势强于前期。     

Hydrology and vegetation dynamics of the climate system of northern Eurasia and the Arctic basin

The dynamics of the climate and surface hydrology of northern Eurasia under the conditions of global climate changes is studied using coupled models of the atmospheric and oceanic general circulation. Feedbacks are assessed and analyzed for some parameters of the atmosphere and surface hydrology. The role of the biosphere (including the surface air layer, the vegetation layer, soil, and the hydrosphere) in the dynamics of the climate of the 21st century is studied. The features of the dynamics of the northern Atlantic seas during the periods corresponding to different phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation index are studied.     

CMIP5气候模式模拟的北极海冰特征及其季节变化

This paper is focused on the seasonality change of Arctic sea ice extent(SIE) from 1979 to 2100 using newly available simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5).A new approach to compare the simulation metric of Arctic SIE between observation and 31 CMIP5 models was established.The approach is based on four factors including the climatological average,linear trend of SIE,span of melting season and annual range of SIE.It is more objective and can be popularized to other comparison of models.Six good models(GFDL-CM3,CESM1-BGC,MPI-ESM-LR,ACCESS-1.0,Had GEM2-CC,and Had GEM2-AO in turn) are found which meet the criterion closely based on above approach.Based on ensemble mean of the six models,we found that the Arctic sea ice will continue declining in each season and firstly drop below 1 million km~2(defined as the ice-free state) in September 2065 under RCP4.5 scenario and in September 2053 under RCP8.5 scenario.We also study the seasonal cycle of the Arctic SIE and find out the duration of Arctic summer(melting season) will increase by about 100 days under RCP4.5 scenario and about 200 days under RCP8.5 scenario relative to current circumstance by the end of the 21 st century.Asymmetry of the Arctic SIE seasonal cycle with later freezing in fall and early melting in spring,would be more apparent in the future when the Arctic climate approaches to "tipping point",or when the ice-free Arctic Ocean appears.Annual range of SIE(seasonal melting ice extent) will increase almost linearly in the near future 30–40 years before the Arctic appears ice-free ocean,indicating the more ice melting in summer,the more ice freezing in winter,which may cause more extreme weather events in both winter and summer in the future years.     

北冰洋公海渔业权益争端的博弈分析——基于环北极国家视角

北冰洋公海尚处于冰封状态,但气候变暖、海冰加速融化使未来公海出现新渔场成为可能,其战略价值因而得到国际关注。当前,环北极国家已率先展开渔业权益争夺。为分析北冰洋公海渔业事务的国际走势,文章基于博弈论思想,构建非对称懦夫博弈模型及古诺模型来模拟和探究环北极国家在渔业利益争夺中的合作或冲突行为,研究得出:现阶段北冰洋公海渔业权益争端主要表现为渔业管理权的争夺,在该博弈中,非北冰洋沿岸国采取退让策略,沿岸国采取进攻策略,可以达到进化稳定均衡;一旦公海具备捕鱼条件,争端将演化为开发模式选择的博弈,此时,北冰洋沿岸国采取合作开发策略可以有效保护公海渔业资源,并实现国家的长期利益。     

北极海域海面风场和海浪遥感观测能力分析

卫星遥感是开展北极海域海面风场和海浪分布特征与变化规律研究的重要手段。本文基于在轨多源卫星遥感数据,从遥感观测空间覆盖、时间覆盖和多源卫星遥感数据融合等方面开展北极海域海面风场与海浪遥感观测能力分析,研究主要结果为:基于ASCAT和HY-2A散射计可实现北极海域海面风场遥感观测,通过多星联合观测可获取北极海域时空分辨率优于12 h和0.1°的海面风场遥感融合数据;基于HY-2A、CryoSat-2、SARAL和Sentinel-3高度计可实现北极海域海浪遥感观测,同样通过多星联合观测可获取北极海域时空分辨率优于1 d和0.25°的海浪有效波高遥感融合数据;基于2016年北极海面风场和海浪遥感融合数据,分析得出北极海域海面风场和海浪在2月处于极大值,然后逐渐减小,7月最小,随后开始逐渐增大。本研究表明,基于多源散射计和高度计遥感观测可实现北极海域海面风场和海浪的高时空分辨率遥感业务化监测。