The Arctic climate significantly impacts the rest of the world. It creates feedback loops, which are the impact of an initial force on a system which might amplify (positive) or diminish (negative) the initial force. One ongoing example is the current melting of permafrost and the release of methane gas, the methane traps more heat in the atmosphere, which causes more permafrost melt. With increased methane in the atmosphere, Arctic feedback loops have the potential to speed up global flooding, ice melt, and other climate change impacts. Ice melt is already flooding across the globe: Boston, Bangladesh, Wuhan, and many other coastal cities.
Furthermore, the Arctic regulates global climates through the northern jet stream. Warmer temperatures will destabilize the jet stream, disrupting southern climates, and raise the Earth’s temperature while threatening food systems. Freshwater from ice melt may even disrupt ocean circulation patterns and cool down the northern Atlantic ocean. Vegetation zones will shift, resulting in biodiversity loss and southern species migrating north. In a bleak vision of the future, it is possible that viruses, zoonotics, and diseases preserved in the ice and permafrost could be revived with the potential to start devastating pandemics.
Feedback loop: an input that speeds up or slows down an output
Positive feedback loop: input that amplifies an output
Negative feedback loop: input that slows down an output
Jet stream: air current in the Arctic that affects weather systems
Ocean circulation patterns: large scale movement of water
Further Reading:
Francis, J. A., & Vavrus, S. J. (2015). Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming. Environmental Research Letters, 10(1), 014005. Complicated paper that suggests extreme weather in mid latitudes is likely caused by changes in the jet stream related to global warming. Could explain heat waves and cold snaps from atmospheric blocking.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Ocean Acidification: The Other Carbon Dioxide Problem. Available at: https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification An overview of the chemical reactions that occur when excess carbon dioxide is dissolved in ocean water, leading to an increase in ocean acidification. Links on this webpage lead to other articles about the ecosystem impacts of ocean acidification and up-to-date observations of ocean acidification around the world.
Koven, C. D., Ringeval, B., Friedlingstein, P., Ciais, P., Cadule, P., Khvorostyanov, D., … Krinner, G. (2011, September 6). Permafrost carbon-climate feedbacks accelerate global warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(36). This article explores how feedback accelerates climate change. As permafrost is expected to melt, further greenhouse gases will be emitted to the atmosphere, contributing more to warming
References:
“National Snow and Ice Data Center.” Climate Change in the Arctic | National Snow and Ice Data Center,
nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html
“Six Ways Loss of Arctic Ice Impacts Everyone.”
WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone
Wadhams, Peter, et al. “The Global Impacts of Rapidly Disappearing Arctic Sea Ice.” Yale E360, e360.yale.edu/features/as_arctic_ocean_ice_disappears_global_climate_impacts_intensify_wadhams