Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation

Abstract This study explores the response of Arctic sea ice to CO2 removal and its subsequent effects on the winter Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. Using multimodel ensembles from the Carbon Dioxide Removal Model Intercomparison Project, we find that most models display incomplete Arcti...

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Main Authors: Hao Yu, James A. Screen, Mian Xu, Stephanie Hay, Weiteng Qiu, Jennifer L. Catto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-03-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113541
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author Hao Yu
James A. Screen
Mian Xu
Stephanie Hay
Weiteng Qiu
Jennifer L. Catto
author_facet Hao Yu
James A. Screen
Mian Xu
Stephanie Hay
Weiteng Qiu
Jennifer L. Catto
author_sort Hao Yu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This study explores the response of Arctic sea ice to CO2 removal and its subsequent effects on the winter Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. Using multimodel ensembles from the Carbon Dioxide Removal Model Intercomparison Project, we find that most models display incomplete Arctic sea‐ice recovery when CO2 is stabilized back at preindustrial levels, with a deficit of sea‐ice area of around 1 million km2. This sea‐ice deficit is associated with residual equatorward‐shifted wintertime midlatitude jets. Sea‐ice perturbation experiments from the Polar Amplification MIP provide evidence of a causal influence of residual sea‐ice loss on the atmospheric circulation. Model uncertainty in the magnitude of the residual North Atlantic jet shift can be largely explained by the relative magnitudes of residual Arctic and tropical warming across the models. These findings suggest that Arctic sea‐ice loss is not fully reversible after CDR, which leads to residual changes in the mid‐latitude atmospheric circulation.
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issn 0094-8276
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publishDate 2025-03-01
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-1ba784af7f7248b4b37d2f78f8a3a8b12025-08-20T02:16:05ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-03-01525n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113541Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric CirculationHao Yu0James A. Screen1Mian Xu2Stephanie Hay3Weiteng Qiu4Jennifer L. Catto5Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Exeter Exeter UKDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics University of Exeter Exeter UKState Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Lanzhou ChinaDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics University of Exeter Exeter UKDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics University of Exeter Exeter UKDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics University of Exeter Exeter UKAbstract This study explores the response of Arctic sea ice to CO2 removal and its subsequent effects on the winter Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. Using multimodel ensembles from the Carbon Dioxide Removal Model Intercomparison Project, we find that most models display incomplete Arctic sea‐ice recovery when CO2 is stabilized back at preindustrial levels, with a deficit of sea‐ice area of around 1 million km2. This sea‐ice deficit is associated with residual equatorward‐shifted wintertime midlatitude jets. Sea‐ice perturbation experiments from the Polar Amplification MIP provide evidence of a causal influence of residual sea‐ice loss on the atmospheric circulation. Model uncertainty in the magnitude of the residual North Atlantic jet shift can be largely explained by the relative magnitudes of residual Arctic and tropical warming across the models. These findings suggest that Arctic sea‐ice loss is not fully reversible after CDR, which leads to residual changes in the mid‐latitude atmospheric circulation.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113541
spellingShingle Hao Yu
James A. Screen
Mian Xu
Stephanie Hay
Weiteng Qiu
Jennifer L. Catto
Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
Geophysical Research Letters
title Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
title_full Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
title_fullStr Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
title_full_unstemmed Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
title_short Incomplete Arctic Sea‐Ice Recovery Under CO2 Removal and Its Effects on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation
title_sort incomplete arctic sea ice recovery under co2 removal and its effects on the winter atmospheric circulation
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113541
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