Session Announcement and Call for Abstracts
Environmental Impacts of a Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Cover
American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting
15-19 December 2008
San Francisco, California
Abstract Submission Deadline: 10 September 2008
For further information, please go to:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm08/?content=search&show=detail&sessid=193
Papers are invited for Session C11: "Environmental Impacts of a
Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Cover" being convened at the American
Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting on 15-19 December 2008 in San
Francisco, California.
Session Description:
Arctic sea ice extent at the end of the summer melt season has declined
sharply over the period of satellite observations and is projected to
disappear entirely as concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases
continue to rise. The record low ice extent of September 2007 served as
an exclamation point on the downward trend and further raised concern
that the Arctic may be on the verge of rapid transition to a seasonal
ice cover. While the factors forcing this trend have and will continue
to be widely studied, less attention has been paid to the environmental
impacts of current and future sea ice loss. Continued loss of the ice
cover may result in strong rises in atmospheric temperature and water
vapor content, not just at and near the surface, but extending through a
considerable depth of the troposphere. Changes in humidity and the
boundary layer structure are likely to alter cloud conditions, a key
determinant of the surface energy balance. Through atmospheric
transports, warming will likely extend well beyond areas of ice loss,
potentially influencing arctic land areas, glaciers, ice caps, and the
Greenland ice sheet. Extensive open water areas will promote increased
wave action and coastal erosion. Ice loss may in turn have impacts on
patterns of atmospheric circulation and precipitation not just within
the Arctic, but potentially extending into middle latitudes. While
evidence is growing that some of these effects are already occurring,
they are likely grow in coming decades. This session will address
emerging and projected environmental impacts of arctic sea ice loss
through both observational and modeling studies.
For abstract submission procedures and instructions, please go to:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm08/?content=program
For session information, please go to:
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm08/?content=search&show=detail&sessid=381
Conveners:
Mark Serreze
Email: serreze [at] nsidc.org
Julienne Stroeve
Email: stroeve [at] kryos.colorado.edu