Recent Thickening of the Barents Sea Ice Cover

Abstract

Abstract The Arctic sea ice cover has decreased rapidly over the last few decades both in extent and thickness. Here we present multi‐year (2013–2022) observations of sea ice thickness in the northwestern Barents Sea based on Upward Looking Sonar measurements and show that the winter sea ice has become thicker over the last decade. Sea ice thickness from the Pan‐Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS) reproduces both the observed variability and recent 10‐year trend and shows that this thickening (0.24 m decade−1) has not been seen since the 1990s. Using PIOMAS we find that the recent increase in sea ice thickness can be explained by increased sea ice freezing as a result of lower temperatures in the ocean and in the atmosphere. The recent thickening is set in the context of a long‐term thinning trend, with PIOMAS showing much thinner ice now than in the 1980s.