Zhongfang Liu^a,1, Camille Risi^b, Francis Codron^c, Zhimin Jian^a, Zhongwang Wei^d, Xiaogang He^e, Christopher J. Poulsen^f, Yue Wang^a, Dong Chen^g, Wentao Ma^h, Yanyan Chengⁱ and Gabriel J. Bowen^j

^aState Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; ^bLaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, IPSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris 75252, France; ^cLOCEAN, Sorbonne Université, Paris 75252, France; ^dGuangdong Province Key Laboratory for Climate Change and Natural Disaster Studies, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; ^eDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117576, Singapore; ^fDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; ^gNansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; ^hState Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China; ⁱDepartment of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management, National University of Singapore, 117576, Singapore; ^jDepartment of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Significance Statement

The recent decline and variability in Arctic winter sea ice have been viewed as a combined response to oceanic and atmospheric processes. Disentangling the relative importance of these processes is challenging due to strong ocean-atmosphere coupling. Here, we demonstrate that BKS winter sea ice variability is primarily driven by atmospheric, rather than oceanic, processes. Increased transport of atmospheric heat and moisture into the BKS region increases downward longwave radiation, contributing to warming and sea ice decline. Our results reinforce the importance of atmospheric processes for Arctic winter sea ice variability and changes and have potential implications for climate and environment in the Arctic and beyond.

Full Article：http://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2120770119