Barents Sea

New data recently published in the journal Scientific Reports has revealed extraordinary rates of global heating in the Arctic up to seven times faster than the global average. The research is based on data from automatic weather stations on the islands of Svalbard and Franz Josef Land.The heating is happening in the North Barents Sea and is suspected to trigger increases in extreme weather in North America Europe and Asia. According to researchers the heating in the Barents sea region is an “early warning” of what could happen across the rest of the Arctic.

Barents Sea

• The Barents Sea borders the Norwegian and Greenland Sea in the west, the Arctic Sea in the north and the Kara Sea in the east.
• The Barents Sea is divided between Russia and Norway as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Atlantification

• Scientists have discovered ‘hotspots’ where some parts of the Barents Sea have started to closely resemble the Atlantic. This phenomenon has been termed Atlantification.
• The north-flowing ocean currents transport the warm waters of the Atlantic into the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea.
• Unlike the Atlantic and Pacific, the upper waters of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean get warmer as they get deeper.
• The top of the ocean is typically covered by sea ice. Below this is a layer of cool freshwater, followed by a deeper layer of warmer, saltier water delivered to the Arctic from the Atlantic by ocean currents.
• According to NASA data, the total area covered by sea ice in this region has fallen by almost half since satellite records began in the early 1980s.
• One possible reason for this is that, when sea ice melts through the summer, it replenishes the freshwater layer that sits above the warmer Atlantic layer. With less sea ice around, the amount of freshwater dwindles, this, in turn, causes the ocean to mix together, drawing more Atlantic heat up towards the surface. This “Atlantification” can, in turn, cause more ice to melt from below.
• Human-caused global climate change has been accelerating the Atlantification process and this will in turn significantly affect the weather patterns, ocean circulations, and the entire Arctic ecosystem.

What will be the Consequences of the Warming

1. More extreme weather

• The exceptional warming of the Arctic could lead to more extreme weather in North America, Europe and Asia.
• The Arctic is the fastest warming region in the world with estimates ranging from two to four times the rate of warming in the rest of the world.
• The reason for this is a closed loop of melting sea ice and faster warming.

2.Melting of More Ice

• As the Arctic region warms, the sea ice melts and exposes the ocean surface below.
• The surface absorbs more energy than sea ice would have and enhances the warming, making more sea ice melt, forming a feedback loop.