An Arctic hydrologic system in transition: Feedbacks and impacts on terrestrial, marine, and human life

The pace of change in the arctic system during recent decades has captured the world's attention. Observations and model simulations both indicate that the arctic experiences an amplified response to climate forcing relative to that at lower latitudes. At the core of these changes is the arctic hydrologic system, which includes ice, gaseous vapor in the atmosphere, liquid water in soils and fluvial networks on land, and the freshwater content of the ocean. The changes in stores and fluxes of freshwater have a direct impact on biological systems, not only of the arctic region itself, but also well beyond its bounds. In this investigation, we used a heuristic, graphical approach to distill the system into its fundamental parts, documented the key relationships between those parts as best we know them, and identified the feedback loops within the system. The analysis illustrates relationships that are well understood, but also reveals others that are either unfamiliar, uncertain, or unexplored. The graphical approach was used to provide a visual assessment of the arctic hydrologic system in one possible future state in which the Arctic Ocean is seasonally ice free.

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An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2010 American Geophysical Union.


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Author Francis, Jennifer
White, Daniel
Cassano, John
Gutowski, William
Hinzman, Larry
Holland, Marika
Steele, Michael
Vorosmarty, Charles
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2009-12-09T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:59:00.213518
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:17241
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Francis, Jennifer, White, Daniel, Cassano, John, Gutowski, William, Hinzman, Larry, Holland, Marika, Steele, Michael, Vorosmarty, Charles. (2009). An Arctic hydrologic system in transition: Feedbacks and impacts on terrestrial, marine, and human life. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7xg9sdn. Accessed 09 February 2025.

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