Nature Climate Change, August 10
The Arctic Ocean could be seasonally ice-free at temperatures only slightly above today’s, once land-based Arctic summer temperatures average 4 to 5°C above pre-industrial. This would occur by summer 2035 under high emissions scenarios; parts of the Arctic were already far warmer this summer. These new simulations using CMIP6, by the UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre showed much higher sea ice sensitivity to warming, and moved ice-free September conditions sharply earlier compared to previous modelling. Hadley’s modelling also resolved a long-standing enigma, showing an ice-free Arctic in the summer months during the last interglacial 130,000 to 116,000 years ago, as a potential analogue for near-term climate change. Their results also demonstrate the significant year-round feedbacks of loss of summer sea-ice on temperatures in the Arctic and northern hemisphere above both land and water. The authors call on policymakers to consider this an urgent challenge motivating more rapid emissions reductions.
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0865-2
Compiled by Amy Imedieke
ICIMOD, April 24, 2026 2026 marks the fourth consecutive year of below-average snow conditions in…
Ocean Science, 20 Apr 2026 Global warming and increased freshwater input from melting ice are…
Science, 23 Apr 2026 Specially-adapted species living in glacier regions face rapid snowpack and ice…
Science Advances, 24 Apr 2026 Observations from the grounding zone beneath the Ross Ice Shelf…
The Hindu Kush Himalaya faces rising climate extremes that threaten mountain communities, demanding a shift…
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 23 April 2026 Observations suggest we are currently tracking…