Sea-ice-free Arctic during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss

Maria-Vittoria Guarino (), Louise C. Sime (), David Schröeder, Irene Malmierca-Vallet, Erica Rosenblum, Mark Ringer, Jeff Ridley, Danny Feltham, Cecilia Bitz, Eric J. Steig, Eric Wolff, Julienne Stroeve and Alistair Sellar
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Maria-Vittoria Guarino: British Antarctic Survey
Louise C. Sime: British Antarctic Survey
David Schröeder: University of Reading
Irene Malmierca-Vallet: British Antarctic Survey
Erica Rosenblum: University of Manitoba
Mark Ringer: The Met Office
Jeff Ridley: The Met Office
Danny Feltham: University of Reading
Cecilia Bitz: University of Washington
Eric J. Steig: University of Washington
Eric Wolff: University of Cambridge
Julienne Stroeve: University of Manitoba
Alistair Sellar: The Met Office

Nature Climate Change, 2020, vol. 10, issue 10, 928-932

Abstract: Abstract The Last Interglacial (LIG), a warmer period 130,000–116,000 years before present, is a potential analogue for future climate change. Stronger LIG summertime insolation at high northern latitudes drove Arctic land summer temperatures 4–5 °C higher than in the pre-industrial era. Climate model simulations have previously failed to capture these elevated temperatures, possibly because they were unable to correctly capture LIG sea-ice changes. Here, we show that the latest version of the fully coupled UK Hadley Center climate model (HadGEM3) simulates a more accurate Arctic LIG climate, including elevated temperatures. Improved model physics, including a sophisticated sea-ice melt-pond scheme, result in a complete simulated loss of Arctic sea ice in summer during the LIG, which has yet to be simulated in past generations of models. This ice-free Arctic yields a compelling solution to the long-standing puzzle of what drove LIG Arctic warmth and supports a fast retreat of future Arctic summer sea ice.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0865-2

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