Posted on 4 November 2020 by Doug Bostrom

Biofeedback in the Arctic

The authors of Amplified Arctic Surface Warming and Sea Ice Loss Due to Phytoplankton and Colored Dissolved Material explore the effects of increasing availability of light to ocean microrganisms in the Arctic Ocean. They claim to identify an overlooked and potentially significant positive feedback mechanism. In a nutshell, increased attenuation of light in the upper few meters of the ocean due to increased phytoplankton population concentrates energy where it counts most, leading to later formation of ice due to increased surface temperature, with further implications. The authors observe that this effect may help to explain discrepancy between predicted ice loss in the Arctic Ocean versus observation.

The abstract: 

Optically active water constituents attenuate solar radiation and hence affect the vertical distribution of energy in the upper ocean. To understand their implications, we operate an ocean biogeochemical model coupled to a general circulation model with sea ice. Incorporating the effect of phytoplankton and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on light attenuation in the model increases the sea surface temperature in summer and decreases sea ice concentration in the Arctic Ocean. Locally, the sea ice season is reduced by up to one month. CDOM drives a significant part of these changes, suggesting that an increase of this material will amplify the observed Arctic surface warming through its direct thermal effect. Indirectly, changing advective processes in the Nordic Seas may further intensify this effect. Our results emphasize the phytoplankton and CDOM feedbacks on the Arctic ocean and sea ice system and underline the need to consider these effects in future modeling studies to enhance their plausibility.

Open access and free to read. 

79 Articles

Observations of global warming & effects

Amplified Arctic Surface Warming and Sea Ice Loss Due to Phytoplankton and Colored Dissolved Material
Open Access DOI: 10.1029/2020gl088795

Observation-derived ice growth curves show patterns and trends in maximum ice thickness and safe travel duration of Alaskan lakes and rivers
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-14-3595-2020

Significant water vapor fluxes from the Greenland Ice Sheet detected through water vapor isotopic (δ18O, δD, deuterium excess) measurements (preprint)

Faster decline and higher variability in the sea ice thickness of the marginal Arctic seas
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-282 (preprint)

Advancing frost dates have reduced frost risk among most North American angiosperms since 1980

Rapid Reconfiguration of the Greenland Ice Sheet Coastal Margin
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020jf005585

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate & global warming, effects

Vulnerable top-of-permafrost ground ice indicated by remotely sensed late-season subsidence
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-312 (preprint)

New approach to evaluate satellite derived XCO2 over oceans by integrating ship and aircraft observations (preprint)

Mapping the grounding zone of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, from ICESat-2 laser altimetry
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-14-3629-2020

Modeling, simulation & projection of global warming & global warming effects MSWE

Convective Aggregation and the Amplification of Tropical Precipitation Extremes
Open Access DOI: 10.1029/2020av000201

Multi-hazard climate risk projections for the United States
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s11069-020-04385-y

Projection of vegetation impacts on future droughts over West Africa using a coupled RegCM-CLM-CN-DV
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02879-z

Using the climate feedback response analysis method to quantify climate feedbacks in the middle atmosphere
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/acp-20-12409-2020

Significant additional Antarctic warming in atmospheric bias-corrected ARPEGE projections
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-307 (preprint)

Projected changes in days with zero?crossings for Norway
DOI: 10.1002/joc.6913

Advances in climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Constraints on global aerosol number concentration, SO2 and condensation sink in UKESM1 using ATom measurements (preprint)

A Hybrid Downscaling Approach for Future Temperature and Precipitation Change
DOI: 10.1175/jamc-d-20-0013.1

Cryosphere & climate change

Mechanics and dynamics of pinning points on the Shirase Coast, West Antarctica
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-298 (preprint)

Energetics of Surface Melt in West Antarctica
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-311 (preprint)

Significant water vapor fluxes from the Greenland Ice Sheet detected through water vapor isotopic (δ18O, δD, deuterium excess) measurements (preprint)

Faster decline and higher variability in the sea ice thickness of the marginal Arctic seas
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-282 (preprint)

Glacial history of Inglefield Land, north Greenland from combined in situ 10Be and 14C exposure dating

Vulnerable top-of-permafrost ground ice indicated by remotely sensed late-season subsidence
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2020-312 (preprint)

Mapping the grounding zone of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, from ICESat-2 laser altimetry
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-14-3629-2020

Amplified Arctic Surface Warming and Sea Ice Loss Due to Phytoplankton and Colored Dissolved Material
Open Access DOI: 10.1029/2020gl088795

Paleoclimate

Glacial history of Inglefield Land, north Greenland from combined in situ 10Be and 14C exposure dating

Could the Last Interglacial Constrain Projections of Future Antarctic Ice Mass Loss and Sea?Level Rise?
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2019jf005418 (preprint)

Biology & global warming

Projection of vegetation impacts on future droughts over West Africa using a coupled RegCM-CLM-CN-DV
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02879-z

Population variation in the thermal response to climate change reveals differing sensitivity in a benthic shark
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15422

Aboveground biomass in Inner Mongolian temperate grasslands decreases under climate warming
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/acp-2020-1088 (preprint)

A century of coping with environmental and ecological changes via compensatory biomineralization in mussels
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15417

Advancing frost dates have reduced frost risk among most North American angiosperms since 1980

A decision framework for evidence?based climate adaptation interventions
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15429

Temperature dependence of metabolic rate in tropical and temperate aquatic insects: Support for the Climate Variability Hypothesis in mayflies but not stoneflies
Open Access DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15400

Warming leads to more closed nitrogen cycling in nitrogen?rich tropical forests
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15432

Projections of Mountain Snowpack Loss for Wolverine Denning Elevations in the Rocky Mountains
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001537

GHG sources & sinks, flux

Reviews and syntheses: The mechanisms underlying carbon storage in soil
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-5223-2020

Estimating CH4, CO2 and CO emissions from coal mining and industrial activities in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin using an aircraft-based mass balance approach
Open Access DOI: 10.5194/acp-2020-282-rc2

Much stronger tundra methane emissions during autumn?freeze than spring?thaw
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15421

Characterisation of methane sources in Lutjewad, The Netherlands, using quasi-continuous isotopic composition measurements
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1080/16000889.2020.1823733

Characterising organic carbon sources in Anthropocene affected Arctic upland lake catchments, Disko Island, West Greenland
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-2020-347 (preprint)

Methane paradox in tropical lakes? Sedimentary fluxes rather than pelagic production in oxic conditions sustain methanotrophy and emissions to the atmosphere
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-5209-2020

The water column of the Yamal tundra lakes as a microbial filter preventing methane emission
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-2020-317 (preprint)

Aboveground biomass in Inner Mongolian temperate grasslands decreases under climate warming
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/acp-2020-1088 (preprint)

Afforestation increases ecosystem productivity and carbon storage in China during the 2000s
DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108227

A physiology?based Earth observation model indicate stagnation in the global gross primary production during recent decades
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15424

Thawing permafrost and methane emission in Siberia: Synthesis of observations, reanalysis, and predictive modeling
DOI: 10.1007/s13280-020-01392-y

Applications of artificial neural networks and hybrid models for predicting CO 2 flux from soil to atmosphere

Urbanization and fragmentation mediate temperate forest carbon cycle response to climate
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abbf16

Reducing Uncertainties of Future Global Soil Carbon Responses to Climate and Land Use Change With Emergent Constraints
DOI: 10.1029/2020gb006589

CO2 removal & mitigation science & engineering

Electro-reduction of carbon dioxide at low over-potential at a metal–organic framework decorated cathode
Open Access DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19236-4

The importance of nitrogen for net carbon sequestration when considering natural climate solutions
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15381

Geoengineering climate

Detectability of Artificial Ocean Alkalinization and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection in MPI?ESM
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001634

Climate change communications & cognition

Credible Threat: Perceptions of Pandemic Coronavirus, Climate Change and the Morality and Management of Global Risks
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.578562

China’s Pathway to Climate Sustainability: A Diachronic Framing Analysis of People’s Daily’s Coverage of Climate Change (1995–2018)
DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2020.1817766

Climate change perception, vulnerability, and readiness: inter-country variability and emerging patterns in Latin America
DOI: 10.1007/s13412-020-00639-0

Greening the Economy through Voluntary Private Sector Initiatives or Government Regulation? A Public Opinion Perspective
Open Access DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.09.013

Agronomy & climate change

30 years of free?air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE): What have we learned about future crop productivity and its potential for adaptation?
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15375

Natural variations of SLG1 confer high-temperature tolerance in indica rice

Analyzing adaptation strategies for maize production under future climate change in Guanzhong Plain, China
DOI: 10.1007/s11027-020-09935-0

Potential management interventions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from tea cultivation
DOI: 10.1080/17583004.2020.1840872

Feedback modelling of the impacts of drought: a case study in coffee production systems in Viet Nam
Open Access DOI: 10.1016/j.crm.2020.100255

Economics & finance of climate change & mitigation

A sustainable flywheel: opportunities from insurance’ business to support nature-based solutions for climate adaptation 

Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abc046

The impact of removing cross subsidies in electric power industry in China: Welfare, economy, and CO₂ emission

Electricity market design for low-carbon and flexible systems: Room for improvement in Chile
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111997

Implication of emission regulation on cost and tariffs of coal-based power plants in India: A system modelling approach
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111924

Climate change mitigation & adaptation public policy research

Governing the health risks of climate change: opportunities for regeneration in an age of planetary health
DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2020.10.002

Anticipating futures through models: the rise of Integrated Assessment Modelling in the climate science-policy interface since 1970
Open Access DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102191

Co-benefits of reducing CO₂ and air pollutant emissions in the urban transport sector: A case of Guangzhou

Understanding the preferences of rural communities for adaptation to 21^st-century sea-level rise: a case study from the Samoan Islands

Integrating seasonal climate forecasts into adaptive social protection in the Sahel
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2020.1825920

10 Years on: managing the changing health risks of climate change
DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2020.08.013

Climate change impacts on human culture

Projected changes in days with zero?crossings for Norway
DOI: 10.1002/joc.6913

The global scale, distribution and growth of aviation: Implications for climate change
Open Access DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102194

Flood vulnerability and its influencing factors
DOI: 10.1007/s11069-020-04267-3

Other

Addendum to 'Assessing ExxonMobil's climate change communications (1977–2014)' Supran and Oreskes (2017 Environ. Res. Lett. 12 084019)
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab89d5

Future impacts of climate change on inland Ramsar wetlands
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-00942-2

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Risk Management Solutions for Climate Change–Induced Disasters
DOI: 10.1111/risa.13616

Seasonality of biological and physical systems as indicators of climatic variation and change
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02894-0

Ideas and Perspectives: When ocean acidification experiments are not the same, reproducibility is not tested
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-2020-394 (preprint)

Why the divestment movement is missing the mark
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-00950-2

COVID-19, the Anthropocene, and the Imperative of US–China Cooperation
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s10393-020-01494-9

Beyond 2020: converging crises demand integrated responses
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s11625-020-00876-w

Harnessing international climate governance to drive a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2020.1835603

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