Marika M. Holland, Joel Finnis, Andrew P. Barrett, and Mark C. Serreze

Journal of Geophysical Research

Published date October 26, 2007

Projected changes in Arctic Ocean freshwater budgets

  • Examines Arctic Ocean freshwater budgets from 10 models participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, which includes an analysis of sea ice transport and storage, ocean transport and storage, and net surface flux exchange
  • Compares simulated budgets for the late 20th century to available observations, and analyses simulated changes from 1950 to 2050
  • Finds the consistent theme over this period is an acceleration of the Arctic hydrological cycle, which is expressed as an increase in the flux of water passing through the hydrologic elements