The Arctic Climate System PDF
Preview The Arctic Climate System
The Arctic Climate System This second edition brings this definitive book completely up to date with the many advances in our understanding of Arctic climate since the first edition was published in 2005. The book has also been extensively reorganized to weave issues of Arctic change throughout the text, rather than confining them to a single chapter. This book is the first to provide an integrated assessment of the Arctic climate system, recognizing that a true understanding of how the Arctic functions lies in appreciating the interactions and linkages among its various components. It begins with a historical perspective, addressing the early exploration of the Arctic, the growth of systematic observations, and the advent of the modern research era. This is followed by a discussion of the basic physical and climatic characteristics of the Arctic. Later chapters address atmospheric and ocean energy budgets, atmospheric circulation, the surface energy budget, the hydrologic budget, atmosphere–ocean–sea ice interactions, and regional climate regimes. Modeling is an important tool in Arctic climate research and is accorded its own chapter. Following a review of past climates (paleoclimates), the book closes with a brief assessment of the Arctic’s uncertain future. Though targeted mainly at advanced students and researchers, this book is accessible to anyone with an interest in the Arctic and a basic understanding of climate science. Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series Editors: J.T. Houghton, M. J. Rycroft, and A. J. Dessler This series of upper-level texts and research monographs covers the physics and chemistry of different regions of the Earth’s atmosphere, from the troposphere and stratosphere, up through the ionosphere and magnetosphere, and out to the interplanetary medium. Mark C. Serreze is the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), part of the Cooperative Institute for Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is also a Fellow of CIRES and a professor in the Department of Geography. His Arctic research interests are wide-ranging and include atmosphere–sea ice interactions, synoptic climatology, hydro- climatology, boundary layer problems, numerical weather prediction, and climate change. Dr. Serreze has conducted fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic on sea ice and ice caps, and on the Alaskan tundra. Roger G. Barry is a Distinguished Professor of Geography Emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the former director of NSIDC. He is currently the director of the International CLIVAR Project Office at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, United Kingdom. He has written more than 250 research papers, and his books include Mountain Weather and Climate (Third Edition, 2008), Atmosphere, Weather and Climate (Ninth Edition, 2009, with Richard Chorley), Synoptic Climatology: Methods and Applications (1973, with A. H. Perry), Synoptic and Dynamic Climatology (2001, with Andrew Carleton), and The Global Cryosphere: Past, Present and Future (2011, with Thian Gan). In 1999, Dr. Barry was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in recognition of his contributions to research in climatology and cryospheric science. In 2009– 2010 he spent nine months on a Humboldt Fellowship at the Glaciology Commission in Munich. Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series EDITORS Alexander J. Dessler John T. Houghton Michael J. Rycroft TITlES In pRInT In ThIS SERIES M. H. Rees T. E. Cravens Physics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere Physics of solar system plasmas R. Daley J. F. Lemaire and K. I. Gringauz Atmosphere data analysis The Earth’s plasmasphere J. K. Hargreaves T. I. Gombosi The solar-terrestrial environment Physics of space environment J. R. Garratt J. Green The atmosphere boundary layer Atmospheric dynamics S. Sazhin G. E. Thomas and K. Stamnes Whistler-mode waves in a hot plasma Radiative transfer in the atmosphere and ocean S. P. Gary I. G. Enting Theory of space plasma microinstabilities Inverse problems in atmospheric constituent I. N. James transport Introduction to circulating atmospheres R. D. Hunsucker and J. K. Hargreaves T. I. Gombosi The high-latitude ionosphere and its effects on Gaskinetic theory radio propagation M. Walt N. Meyer-Vernet Introduction to geomagnetically trapped Basics of the solar wind radiation V. Y. Trakhtengerts and M. J. Rycroft B. A. Kagan Whistler and Alfvén mode cyclotron masers Ocean-atmosphere interaction and climate in space modelling R.W. Schunk and A. F. Nagy D. Hastings and H. Garrett Ionospheres: Physics, plasma physics, Spacecraft-environment interactions and chemistry J. C. King and J. Turner Second Edition Antarctic meteorology and climatology The Arctic Climate System Second Edition Mark C. Serreze University of Colorado at Boulder Roger G. Barry University of Colorado at Boulder 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York ny 10013-2473, usa Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107037175 © Mark Serreze and Roger Barry 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Serreze, Mark C., author. The Arctic climate system / Mark C. Serreze, University of Colorado at Boulder, Roger G. Barry, University of Colorado at Boulder. – Second edition. pages cm – (Cambridge atmospheric and space science series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-03717-5 (hardback) 1. Arctic regions – Climate. 2. Climatology – Arctic regions. I. Barry, Roger G. (Roger Graham), 1935– author. II. Title. QC994.8.S475 2014 551.6911′3–dc23 2013047705 ISBN 978-1-107-03717-5 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. To the future Contents Preface page ix Acknowledgments xi List of Acronyms xiii List of Selected Web Sites xix 1. The Evolution of Knowledge about the Arctic and Its Climate 1 2. physical Characteristics and Basic Climatic Features 23 3. The Basic Atmospheric and Ocean Energy Budgets 65 4. The Atmospheric Circulation 85 5. Energy Exchanges at the Surface 138 6. precipitation, net precipitation, and River Discharge 177 7. Arctic Ocean–Sea Ice–Climate Interactions 209 8. Climate Regimes of the Arctic 249 9. Modeling the Arctic Climate System 273 10. Arctic paleoclimates 311 11. The Uncertain Future 343 References 353 Index 397 See Color Plate section xxx–xxx vii
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