Exploring Arctic Transpolar Drift During Dramatic Sea Ice Retreat

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Print Version (275633 bytes) EOS, TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, VOL. 89, NO. 3, doi:10.1029/2008EO030001, 2008 Exploring Arctic Transpolar Drift During Dramatic Sea Ice Retreat Jean-Claude Gascard LOCEAN, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Jean Festy LOCEAN, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Hervé le Goff LOCEAN, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Matthieu Weber LOCEAN, University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Burghard Bruemmer Meteorological Institute, University of Hamburg, Germany Michael Offermann Meteorological Institute, University of Hamburg, Germany Martin Doble DAMTP, University of Cambridge, U.K. Peter Wadhams DAMTP, University of Cambridge, U.K. René Forsberg Danish National Space Center, Copenhagen Susan Hanson Danish National Space Center, Copenhagen Henriette Skourup Danish National Space Center, Copenhagen Sebastian Gerland Norsk Polar Institute, Tromso, Norway Marcel Nicolaus Norsk Polar Institute, Tromso, Norway Jean-Philippe Metaxian University of Savoy, Chambery, France Jacques Grangeon University of Savoy, Chambery, France Jari Haapala Finnish Institute of Marine Research, Helsinki Eero Rinne Finnish Institute of Marine Research, Helsinki Christian Haas Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany Georg Heygster Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany Erko Jakobson University of Tartu, Estonia Timo Palo University of Tartu, Estonia Jeremy Wilkinson Scottish Association for Marine Sciences, Oban-Argyll, U.K. Lars Kaleschke Center for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hamburg, Germany Kerry Claffey Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N. H., USA Bruce Elder Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N. H., USA Jan Bottenheim Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario Abstract The Arctic is undergoing significant environmental changes due to climate warming. The most evident signal of this warming is the shrinking and thinning of the ice cover of the Arctic Ocean. If the warming continues, as global climate models predict, the Arctic Ocean will change from a perennially ice-covered to a seasonally ice-free ocean. Estimates as to when this will occur vary from the 2030s to the end of this century. One reason for this huge uncertainty is the lack of systematic observations describing the state, variability, and changes in the Arctic Ocean. Published 15 January 2008. Index Terms: 9315 Geographic Location: Arctic region (0718, 4207); 4540 Oceanography: Physical: Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes (0700, 0750, 0752, 0754); 1605 Global Change: Abrupt/rapid climate change (4901, 8408). Print Version (275633 bytes) Citation: Gascard, J.-C., et al. (2008), Exploring Arctic Transpolar Drift During Dramatic Sea Ice Retreat, Eos Trans. AGU, 89(3), doi:10.1029/2008EO030001. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

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