Enhanced Asian warming increases Arctic amplification

Study key findings & significance

• Enhanced Asian warming contributes 22% of the wintertime amplified warming over the Barents–Kara Seas,

• Warming over Asia affects poleward atmospheric heat and moisture transport, which “trigger local feedbacks concerning sea ice-albedo feedback and changes in longwave radiation and evaporation, thus facilitating Barents–Kara Seas warming amplification”.

• Their findings “illuminate a new factor from remote lower latitudes affecting Arctic climate change.”

Abstract

The Arctic has been experiencing prominent warming amplification. However, despite anthropogenic emissions and oceanic variability, whether Arctic amplification has a connection with land in the lower latitudes remains unknown. Here, we newly identify enhanced Asian warming as a factor underlying Arctic amplification. The simulations demonstrate that enhanced Asian warming contributes 22% of the wintertime amplified warming over the Barents–Kara Seas (BKS). We demonstrate that Asian warming remotely affects the Arctic by affecting poleward atmospheric heat and moisture transport. The external anomalous heat and moisture further trigger local feedbacks concerning sea ice-albedo feedback and changes in longwave radiation and evaporation, thus facilitating BKS warming amplification. The capacitor effect of the Arctic Ocean further modulates the seasonality of BKS warming via turbulent heat flux exchange between the atmosphere and ocean. Moreover, anomalous Rossby wave trains are responsible for the anomalous atmospheric circulations favoring the atmospheric heat and moisture transport into BKS. Our findings illuminate a new factor from remote lower latitudes affecting Arctic climate change.