Changing Properties of Snowpack in the Great Salt Lake Basin,Western United States,from a 26-Year SNOTEL Record

Daily observations from automated snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) stations from within the drainage basin of the Great Salt Lake over the period from 1982 to 2007 are analyzed. The major finding is a shift toward an earlier date of peak snow water equivalent (SWE) by around fifteen days. Less robust findings are reductions in the amounts of peak SWE and 1 April SWE. This suggests increased chances of late-summer water shortages, especially when combined with rapid recent population growth. Less freshwater is likely to be available to flow into the Great Salt Lake, increasing its salinity and potentially affecting its ecology.     

Elemental and isotopic carbon and nitrogen records of organic matter accumulation in a Holocene permafrost peat sequence in the East European Russian Arctic

A peat deposit from the East European Russian Arctic, spanning nearly 10 000 years, was investigated to study soil organic matter degradation using analyses of bulk elemental and stable isotopic compositions and plant macrofossil remains. The peat accumulated initially in a wet fen that was transformed into a peat plateau bog following aggradation of permafrost in the late Holocene (～2500 cal a BP). Total organic carbon and total nitrogen (N) concentrations are higher in the fen peat than in the moss‐dominated bog peat layers. Layers in the sequence that have lower concentrations of total hydrogen (H) are associated with degraded vascular plant residues. C/N and H/C atomic ratios indicate better preservation of organic matter in peat material dominated by bryophytes as opposed to vascular plants. The presence of permafrost in the peat plateau stage and water‐saturated conditions at the bottom of the fen stage appear to lead to better preservation of organic plant material. δ¹⁵N values suggest N isotopic fractionation was driven primarily by microbial decomposition whereas differences in δ¹³C values appear to reflect mainly changes in plant assemblages. Positive shifts in both δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values coincide with a local change to drier conditions as a result of the onset of permafrost and frost heave of the peat surface. This pattern suggests that permafrost aggradation not only resulted in changes in vegetation but also aerated the underlying fen peat, which enhanced microbial denitrification, causing the observed ¹⁵N‐enrichment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frequent central Pacific La Ni?a events may accelerate Arctic warming since the 1980s

Including significant warming trend, Arctic climate changes also exhibit strong interannual variations in various fields, which is suggested to be related to El Ni?o and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Previous studies have demonstrated the different impacts on the Arctic of central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP) ENSO events, and suggested these impacts are largely of opposite sign for ENSO warm and cold phases. Our results illustrate asymmetrical changes for the cold and warm ENSO events, especially for the La Ni?a events. Compared to the past frequent basin-wide cooling La Ni?a events, since the 1980s the cooling center for the La Ni?a event has strengthened and moved westward along with the increasing frequency for the canonical and CP La Ni?a events. Contrary to the basin-wide cooling and canonical La Ni?a events, the frequent CP La Ni?a events induce significant warming from the Beaufort Sea to Greenland via the convection center moving northward over the western Pacific. Observation analysis and numerical experiments both suggest that the changes in La Ni?a type may also accelerate Arctic warming.     

北极海冰范围时空变化及其与海温气温间的数值分析

本文利用美国国家冰雪中心提供的1989-2014年海冰范围资料,分析了北极海冰范围的年际变化和季节变化规律。分析发现,北极海冰范围呈减少趋势,每年减小\begin{array}{c}5.91\times {10}^4\mathit{k}{m}^2\end{array},夏季减少趋势显著,冬季减少趋势弱。北极海冰范围显现相对稳定的季节变化规律,海冰的结冰和融化主要发生在各个边缘海,夏季期间的海冰具有融化快、冻结快的特征。结合海温、气温数据,进行北极海冰范围与海温、气温间的数值分析,结果表明北极海冰范围变化通过影响北极海温变化进而影响北极气温变化。海冰范围的季节变化滞后于海温和气温的季节变化。基于北极考察走航海温气温数据,进行楚科奇海海冰范围线与海温气温间的数值分析,发现楚科奇海海冰范围线所在区域的海温、气温与纬度高低、离陆地远近有关。     

Scale and scope of maritime cargoes through the Arctic Passages

This paper investigates the sources of goods being shipped through the Arctic passages, and trade generated in the Arc- tic, including oil and gas exploitation. Furthermore, it assesses the present situation for maritime cargo shipped from the Far East to Northwestern Europe and North America. Two main types of cargo are predicted to pass through the Arctic passages in the future. First, about 10 million t of liquefied natural gas will be delivered from Russia and the Nordic Arctic to the Far East by 2030. Second, there will be two-way trade flow of containerized cargo from the Far East to Europe and the United States through the North- east, Central and Northwest Passages. This will relieve pressure on present routes from the Far East to Northwestern Europe and North America. If Arctic navigation is technically possible in all seasons and shipping costs fall to those of ordinary ships, then assuming an equal share of shipping volume with the traditional canal routes, the maximum container freight passing through the Arctic passages by 2030 will be approximately 17.43 million TEUs （Twenty-foot Equivalent Units） per year, which is 85% of the volume transported on traditional canal routes in 2011. We conclude that there will be large-scale gas transportation through the Northeast Passage in the near future, and transit shipping across the Arctic will focus more on container transportation. The differences in shipping costs between Arctic routes and traditional canal routes are also compared.     

Dominant modes of geopotential height in the northern hemisphere in summer on interdecadal timescales

Empirical orthogonal function(EOF) analysis is performed on the field of the northern hemisphere geopotential height at 200-hPa using a 54-year(1958-2011) record of summer data on an interdecadal time scale.The first dominant mode,which shows smooth semi-hemispheric variation with maximum action centers in the western hemisphere in the mid-latitudes over the eastern Pacific,North America,and the North Atlantic,is related to global warming.The second mode,which has a pronounced tropical-extratropical alternating pattern with active centers located over the eastern hemisphere from Western Europe across East Asia to the western Pacific,has a close relationship with the Arctic Oscillation.Further analysis results indicate that the two dominant modes show good correlation with the Arctic sea ice concentration(SIC),with correlation coefficients between these two modes and the first two EOF modes of the Arctic SIC reaching 0.88 and 0.86,respectively.     

北冰洋水体对格陵兰海混合增密对流的可能影响分析

格陵兰海内发生的等密度混合后产生的增密对流是重要的对流现象之一。北冰洋正在发生快速变化,其内水团变性以及环流系统的改变都将使格陵兰海等密度混合对流发生明显变化,继而对全球气候变化产生影响。以往关于等密度混合对流的研究很少,大都集中在对流发生海域。由于等密度混合的主体是大西洋回流水与北冰洋流出水体,本文目的是探讨北极内部不同海域的水体会对混合增密对流造成的可能影响。文中定义了有效对流速度,强调水平温度梯度和垂向层化强度是影响有效对流速度的决定性因素;水平温度差越大,垂向层化越弱,产生的对流越强。发生在东格陵兰极锋处的有效对流都是大西洋的水体,一部分是在格陵兰海回流的大西洋回流水;一部分是在北冰洋潜沉并回流的北极大西洋水,该水体在北冰洋循环的时间越长,温度差越大,产生的有效对流越强。而横越北冰洋的太平洋水因密度过低而不能参与等密度混合对流,加拿大海盆主盐跃层之上的水体也都不能参与对流。北冰洋几个海盆深层水的温度差异明显,有可能与格陵兰海深层水形成有效对流;但是,由于深层水流速低、湍流混合弱、水平温度梯度小,是否可以产生有效对流尚不清楚。     

北半球中高纬度大气环流主模态的季节演变及其与北极海冰变化的联系

利用31a(1979—2009)气候月平均的海平面气压(SLP)资料,提出1种与北半球中高纬度环流转变相适应的分季法。并根据这个客观分季方法,通过SEOF分析,发现大气环流主模态的季节演变有着典型的北极涛动(AO)空间结构,其时间系数在1990年代中期发生转型。500hPa上纬向波的涡度有着南北反位相的分布特征,冬季正涡度的区域对应着气旋性环流,其覆盖范围广,而夏季正涡度区域更偏北,可见AO在冬季增强,夏季减弱。北半球SLP异常的EOF分解第一模态为北极涛动(AO),第二模态是偶极异常(DA);将这2个模态称之为北半球中高纬度大气环流异常的优势模态。通过计算优势模态与海冰面积的超前滞后相关性,发现AO依然是控制海冰变化的前期大气环流异常的模态,而DA则可能是海冰快速变化后期大气环流的主导模态。