首页|The Changing Face of Arctic Snow Cover: A Synthesis of Observed and Projected Changes

The Changing Face of Arctic Snow Cover: A Synthesis of Observed and Projected Changes

扫码查看
原文链接
  • NSTL
  • Springer Nature
Analysis of in situ and satellite data shows evidence of different regional snow cover responses to the widespread warming and increasing winter precipitation that has characterized the Arctic climate for the past 40-50 years. The largest and most rapid decreases in snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow cover duration (SCD) are observed over maritime regions of the Arctic with the highest precipitation amounts. There is also evidence of marked differences in the response of snow cover between the North American and Eurasian sectors of the Arctic, with the North American sector exhibiting decreases in snow cover and snow depth over the entire period of available in situ observations from around 1950, while widespread decreases in snow cover are not apparent over Eurasia until after around 1980. However, snow depths are increasing in many regions of Eurasia. Warming and more frequent winter thaws are contributing to changes in snow pack structure with important implications for land use and provision of ecosystem services. Projected changes in snow cover from Global Climate Models for the 2050 period indicate increases in maximum SWE of up to 15% over much of the Arctic, with the largest increases (15-30%) over the Siberian sector. In contrast, SCD is projected to decrease by about 10-20% over much of the Arctic, with the smallest decreases over Siberia (<10%) and the largest decreases over Alaska and northern Scandinavia (30-40%) by 2050. These projected changes will have far-reaching consequences for the climate system, human activities, hydrology, and ecology.

Snow depthSnow water equivalentSnow cover durationSnow cover extent

Richard L. H. Essery、Olga N. Bulygina、D. M. Frolov、Andrey B. Shmakin、Sergey A. Sokratov、Stephen Warren、Daquing Yang、Terry V. Callaghan、Margareta Johansson、Ross D. Brown、Vladimir N. Golubev、Thomas C. Grenfell、Marina N. Petrushina、Vyacheslav N. Razuvaev、David A. Robinson、Peter Romanov、Drew Shindell、Pavel Ya. Groisman、Niklas Labba、Vladimir Radionov、Roger G. Barry

展开 >

School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Climatology Department, All-Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Information—World Data Centre (RIHMIWDC), 6 Koroleva Street, Obninsk, Kaluga Region, The Russian Federation 249035

Laboratory of Snow Avalanches and Mudflows, Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow, The Russian Federation 119991

Institute of Geography, 29 Staromonetny St., Moscow, The Russian Federation 119017

Faculty of Geography, Natural Risks Assessment Laboratory, Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskiye Gory 1, Moscow, The Russian Federation 119991

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, USA

Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden

Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Division of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analyses, Lund University, Solvegatan 12, 223 62 Lund, Sweden

Climate Research Division of Environment Canada, Ouranos Climate Consortium, do Ouranos, 550 Sherbrooke St. West, 19th Floor, Montreal, QC H3A 1B9, Canada

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, MS 351640, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, USA

Department of Physical Geography and Landscapes, Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, Moscow, The Russian Federation 119991

RIHMI-WDC, 6, Korolev Str., Obninsk, Kaluga Region, The Russian Federation 249035

Department of Geography, Rutgers University, 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA

NOAA/NESDIS World Weather Building Rm. 711, 5200 Auth Rd., Camp Springs, MD 20746, USA

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, USA

NOAA/NESDIS National Climatic Data Center, VeachBaley Federal Building, 151 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 288015001, USA

Gaisi Sarni Centre, Lakselvbukt, 9042 Laksvatn, Norway

AARI, 38 Bering Str., Saint Petersburg, The Russian Federation 199397

NSIDC/CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0449, USA

展开 >

2011

10.1007/s13280-011-0212-y

Ambio

Ambio

SCI
ISSN：0044-7447
年,卷(期)：2011.40(1 Suppl.)
  • 16
  • 70