The where and when of wetter and drier: disappearing Arctic sea ice plays a role

Abstract

Summer precipitation in northern Europe has been above average for each of the past six years (2007–2012), a pattern that is unprecedented in over a century. During these same years, the summer Arctic sea-ice cover has averaged about 40% below its typical extent prior to the 1950s and set two new record minima. Could there be a connection? This is the question that motivated the new study by Dr James Screen, a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK, that appears in this issue of ERL (2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 044015). Adding to the growing body of evidence linking rapid Arctic warming to changing weather patterns in the northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, he concludes that sea-ice loss and associated surface warming lead to large-scale circulation patterns that favor wet summers in northern Europe and dry summers along the northern Mediterranean.