Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




ICE WORLD
Melting Arctic sea ice could increase summer rainfall in northwest Europe
by Staff Writers
Exeter, UK (SPX) Nov 01, 2013


File image.

A new study offers an explanation for the extraordinary run of wet summers experienced by Britain and northwest Europe between 2007 and 2012. The study found that loss of Arctic sea ice shifts the jet stream further south than normal resulting in increased rain during the summer in northwest Europe.

Dr James Screen from the University of Exeter used a computer model to investigate how the dramatic retreat of Arctic sea ice influences the European summer climate. He found that the pattern of rainfall predicted by the model closely resembles the rainfall pattern of recent summers. The study is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Dr Screen said: "The results of the computer model suggest that melting Arctic sea ice causes a change in the position of the jet stream and this could help to explain the recent wet summers we have seen.

"The study suggests that loss of sea ice not only has an effect on the environment and wildlife of the Arctic region but has far reaching consequences for people living in Europe and beyond."

Jet streams are currents of strong winds high in the atmosphere - around the height at which aeroplanes fly. These winds steer weather systems and their rain. Normally in summer the jet stream lies between Scotland and Iceland and weather systems pass north of Britain. When the jet stream shifts south in summer, it brings unseasonable wet weather to Britain and northwest Europe causing havoc for tourism and farming.

The model suggests that while summer rainfall increases in northwest Europe, Mediterranean regions will receive less rain. The effects are not limited to Europe - weather systems as far as North America could also be influenced.

The annual average extent of Arctic sea ice is currently declining at about half a million square kilometres per decade - equivalent to about twice the area of the UK. The study compared weather patterns during low sea ice conditions as seen in recent years to weather patterns during high sea ice conditions typical of the late 1970s.

The model did not use estimates of how much sea ice there will be in the future, and so this study cannot predict future weather. The results do suggest however that if sea ice loss continues as it has over recent decades, the risk of wet summers may increase.

Other studies have suggested that recent ocean warming of the North Atlantic could also be responsible for more summer rain in northwest Europe. It is likely that several other factors, combined with the impact of melting Arctic sea ice, explain the recent run of wet summers.

The next step is to use estimates of future sea ice loss to make predictions of how further melting could influence summer rainfall in Europe in the years to come.

This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The paper is published in Environmental Research Letters and is available here

.


Related Links
University of Exeter
Beyond the Ice Age






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ICE WORLD
Thawing Permafrost: The speed of coastal erosion in Eastern Siberia has nearly doubled
Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX) Oct 31, 2013
The high cliffs of Eastern Siberia - which mainly consist of permafrost - continue to erode at an ever quickening pace. This is the conclusion which scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research have reached after their evaluation of data and aerial photographs of the coastal regions for the last 40 years. According to the researchers, the reaso ... read more


ICE WORLD
Space technologies boost disaster reduction int'l co-op

How to Manage Nature's Runaway Freight Trains

Uruguay to pull peacekeepers from Haiti: president

Storm-battered northern Europe slowly gets back to normal

ICE WORLD
Historic Demonstration Proves Laser Communication Possible

UNC neuroscientists discover new 'mini-neural computer' in the brain

Birthing a new breed of materials

Unique chemistry in hydrogen catalysts

ICE WORLD
Dublin faces water rationing after serious treatment plant problem

UCLA report urges new global policy effort to tackle crisis of plastic litter in oceans

Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coast

El Nino is becoming more active

ICE WORLD
Greenpeace says Russia moving jailed activists to St Petersburg

Vast Antarctic sanctuary plans fail

Melting Arctic sea ice could increase summer rainfall in northwest Europe

Families ask Ottawa to demand Russia release activists

ICE WORLD
Drink it while you can, as wine shortage looms: study

Second GM corn set for EU approval after Court ruling: EU sources

For fish and rice to thrive in Yolo Bypass, 'just add water'

Brazil energy, farm incentives fuel CO2 emissions

ICE WORLD
Floods kill 48 in eastern India: report

Fukushima workers evacuated as small tsunami hits Japan

Japan mudslide islanders take shelter as new storm looms

Philippine earthquake creates miles-long rocky wall

ICE WORLD
Street art takes on street waste in Libreville

Dutch to send 380 troops to Mali

Egypt military court gives journalist suspended jail term

Ghana arrests 46 more foreigners over illegal gold mining

ICE WORLD
Study: Humans made sophisticated stone tools earlier than thought

Did hard-wired fear of snakes drive evolution of human vision?

Hair regeneration method is first to induce new human hair growth

No known hominin is ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement