Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 4, 2025

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Barents-Kara sea-ice decline attributed to surface warming in the Gulf Stream
Yoko Yamagami1, Masahiro Watanabe2, Masato Mori3
1Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama, Japan. y.yamagami@jamstec.go.jp.
Abstract:
Decline in winter sea-ice concentration (SIC) in the Barents-Kara Sea significantly impacts climate through increased heat release to the atmosphere. However, the past Barents-Kara SIC decrease rate is underestimated in the majority of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) climate models. Here we show that climate model simulations can reproduce the Barents-Kara SIC trend for 1970-2017 when sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the Gulf Stream region is constrained by observations. The constrained warming of the Gulf Stream strengthens ocean heat transport to the Barents-Kara Sea that enhances the SIC decline. The linear trends between the SIC and SST are highly correlated in the CMIP6 ensemble, suggesting that the externally forced component of the Gulf Stream SST increase explains up to 56% of the forced Barents-Kara SIC trend. Therefore, future warming of the Gulf Stream can be an essential pacemaker of the SIC decline.
Related Concept Videos
Global Climate Change
Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...
Effect of Sea Water on Concrete
Concrete in areas between tide marks,...
Effects of Temperature on Free Energy
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Decreased Body Temperature

