Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (1): 39-46.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2022.01.004

• Review Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Arctic sea ice decline and its driving mechanisms

LIU Zhongfang    

  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  • Received:2021-07-01 Online:2022-02-25 Published:2022-02-21

Abstract: Polar sea ice plays an important role in global climate change. The Arctic is experiencing dramatic decline in sea ice coverage under global warming with a rate that is unprecedented over the past millennium. It is predicted that the Arctic Ocean will become ice-free during summertime in the middle of this century or even earlier. Arctic sea ice loss not only directly alters local environment and ecosystem, but also affects mid-latitude or even global weather and climate through large-scale oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns. In this paper, we briefly review the characteristics of Arctic sea ice retreat and the associated physical mechanisms, and envisage prospect in the future work on mechanisms for Arctic sea ice retreat.