NCoE CRAICC
Cryosphere-Atmosphere Interactions in a Changing Arctic Climate
Project leader: Markku Kulmala, Finland
Lower levels of ice and snow cover may cause changes in cargo traffic, travel and tourism, oil exploration and production, fishing and agriculture. The society does, however, have a potential to influence Arctic warming, either through targeted emission control or geoengineering. But how important are the different feedback mechanisms including the ice-albedo feedback?
The ongoing Arctic climate change and cryosphere are interlinked
through radiative forcing, arctic warming, changes in the cryosphere,
society and human activities, and feedbacks in the climate system.
Traditionally, the enhanced warming of Arctic areas has been explained
by the so-called ice-albedo feedback.
The NCoE CRAICC will expand this thinking and include the roles of
society and associated human activities as part of the interactions and
feedback mechanisms acting on the Arctic climate system.
The NCoE CRAICC will focus on the role played by short-lived pollutants
and aerosol-cloud interactions and their linkages with cryospheric
changes, as:
• their role in Arctic warming in potentially very large, yet
poorly quantified
• their emissions are expected to change considerably as a result
of future warming and associated changes in human activities
• and they might provide an additional mitigation pathway for
future Arctic warming.
Read more on the CRAICC website
