Current climatic changes and their impact on the ice regime of the arctic seas

Abstract

Abstract The author utilizes ice data from Arctic stations and from ice reconnaissance flights to investigate the impact of the cooling trend that began in the early 1940's on sea ice conditions in the Soviet Arctic. One striking feature is the pronounced contrast in this impact between the Eastern and Western Arctic, the dividing line lying at about 160°E. Thus while ice formation in the Kara Sea in the fall occurred on average 15–20 days earlier in the decade 1946–55 compared to 1956–65, in the eastern part of the East Siberian Sea ice formation occurred 10–15 days later. The same pattern emerges with regard to ice thicknesses in late winter, date of formation of fast ice in the fall, and ice concentration in late August, i.e., at the height of the navigation season. Quite definitely there has been a significant deterioration in navigation conditions in the Western Arctic and particularly in the Kara Sea; by contrast, navigation conditions have improved markedly in the eastern part of the East Siberian ...