Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal

Abstract The decline of Arctic sea ice area (SIA) has accelerated in recent decades and is projected to continue in a warming climate. This trend can be reversed by reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A large‐ensemble model experiment, in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations are quadrupled and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: M. Inês Cajada, Seok‐Woo Son, Jaeyoung Hwang, Hyo‐Seok Park, Soon‐Il An
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-06-01
Series:Earth's Future
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005597
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849433267375177728
author M. Inês Cajada
Seok‐Woo Son
Jaeyoung Hwang
Hyo‐Seok Park
Soon‐Il An
author_facet M. Inês Cajada
Seok‐Woo Son
Jaeyoung Hwang
Hyo‐Seok Park
Soon‐Il An
author_sort M. Inês Cajada
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The decline of Arctic sea ice area (SIA) has accelerated in recent decades and is projected to continue in a warming climate. This trend can be reversed by reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A large‐ensemble model experiment, in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations are quadrupled and then reduced to the initial state, shows an overall recovery of Arctic SIA by CO2 removal, but at a slower rate than its decline to CO2 increase. The exception is the North Atlantic, where SIA increases rapidly with decreasing CO2 concentrations. The under‐recovery of Central Arctic SIA can be attributed to a slow decrease in Arctic ocean heat storage, due to a lagged ocean cooling and heat transport, and enhanced downward longwave radiation in the Arctic atmosphere, partly due to frequent atmospheric rivers across the Arctic Circle. In contrast, the over‐recovery of North Atlantic SIA is primarily attributed to weakened ocean heat transport by a delayed recovery of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This over‐recovery is shown to be model dependent, following each model's AMOC change. Full recovery of Arctic SIA takes over 300 years after CO2 removal. This result suggests that the response of Arctic sea ice to CO2 removal may be spatially inhomogeneous, with different impacts on regional climate, potentially affecting the climate of the Northern Hemisphere mid‐latitudes.
format Article
id doaj-art-13da034ace674bb18de86d46599384c5
institution Kabale University
issn 2328-4277
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Earth's Future
spelling doaj-art-13da034ace674bb18de86d46599384c52025-08-20T03:27:07ZengWileyEarth's Future2328-42772025-06-01136n/an/a10.1029/2024EF005597Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 RemovalM. Inês Cajada0Seok‐Woo Son1Jaeyoung Hwang2Hyo‐Seok Park3Soon‐Il An4School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Seoul National University Seoul Republic of KoreaSchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences Seoul National University Seoul Republic of KoreaSchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences Seoul National University Seoul Republic of KoreaDepartment of Ocean Science and Technology Hanyang University Ansan South KoreaDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences Yonsei University Seoul South KoreaAbstract The decline of Arctic sea ice area (SIA) has accelerated in recent decades and is projected to continue in a warming climate. This trend can be reversed by reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A large‐ensemble model experiment, in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations are quadrupled and then reduced to the initial state, shows an overall recovery of Arctic SIA by CO2 removal, but at a slower rate than its decline to CO2 increase. The exception is the North Atlantic, where SIA increases rapidly with decreasing CO2 concentrations. The under‐recovery of Central Arctic SIA can be attributed to a slow decrease in Arctic ocean heat storage, due to a lagged ocean cooling and heat transport, and enhanced downward longwave radiation in the Arctic atmosphere, partly due to frequent atmospheric rivers across the Arctic Circle. In contrast, the over‐recovery of North Atlantic SIA is primarily attributed to weakened ocean heat transport by a delayed recovery of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This over‐recovery is shown to be model dependent, following each model's AMOC change. Full recovery of Arctic SIA takes over 300 years after CO2 removal. This result suggests that the response of Arctic sea ice to CO2 removal may be spatially inhomogeneous, with different impacts on regional climate, potentially affecting the climate of the Northern Hemisphere mid‐latitudes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005597Arctic sea ice areacarbon dioxide removalAtlantic meridional overturning circulation
spellingShingle M. Inês Cajada
Seok‐Woo Son
Jaeyoung Hwang
Hyo‐Seok Park
Soon‐Il An
Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
Earth's Future
Arctic sea ice area
carbon dioxide removal
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
title Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
title_full Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
title_fullStr Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
title_full_unstemmed Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
title_short Regionally‐Dependent Arctic Sea Ice Recovery to CO2 Removal
title_sort regionally dependent arctic sea ice recovery to co2 removal
topic Arctic sea ice area
carbon dioxide removal
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005597
work_keys_str_mv AT minescajada regionallydependentarcticseaicerecoverytoco2removal
AT seokwooson regionallydependentarcticseaicerecoverytoco2removal
AT jaeyounghwang regionallydependentarcticseaicerecoverytoco2removal
AT hyoseokpark regionallydependentarcticseaicerecoverytoco2removal
AT soonilan regionallydependentarcticseaicerecoverytoco2removal