HR: 14:40h
AN: U33B-05 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: The Signature of the Albedo-Temperature Feedback in Recent Arctic Change
AU: * Walsh, J
EM: jwalsh@iarc.uaf.edu
AF: University of Alaska, International Arctic Research Center 930 Koyukuk Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
AB: The Arctic climate of the recent few decades has been characterized by areas of relatively rapid warming. Since such patterns can arise from low-frequency natural variability, a key question is whether the recent warming has triggered and has been enhanced by the surface albedo-temperature feedback. This possibility is suggested by the recent decrease of terrestrial snow cover and the record retreat of sea ice over the Arctic Ocean. We demonstrate that the recent retreat of Arctic sea ice has created a footprint of enhanced warming during autumn and early winter in the periphery of the Arctic Ocean. In addition, the earlier springtime disappearance of snow cover from northern land areas has enhanced the springtime heating of the surface by approximately 1 Watt per square meter, consistent with the enhanced warming over northern land areas during spring. These patterns of albedo-enhanced warming will be shown to be consistent with the response of global climate models to enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations.
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 3337 Global climate models (1626, 4928)
DE: 4540 Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes (0700, 0750, 0752, 0754)
DE: 9315 Arctic region (0718, 4207)
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting