MAJOR POINTS: 1) The Barents and GIN basins are warming rapidly and exhibiting strong strong interannual variability. 2) While interannual variability of heat content in the GIN Seas is controlled by Atlantic water transport, we show interannual variability of heat content in the Barents is controlled by surface flux (see also Schlichtholtz et al 2011). 3) Interannual variations in surface flux are the result of variations in wintertime latent heat loss resulting from intrusions of warm moist air from the south. 4) (not shown) these variations also control winter sea ice cover.

Less than three decades ago only a small fraction of the Arctic Ocean (AO) was ice free and then only for short periods. The ice cover kept sea surface COat levels lower relative to other ocean basins that have been exposed year round to ever increasing atmospheric levels. In this study, we evaluate sea surface COmeasurements collected over a 6-year period along a fixed cruise track in the Canada Basin. The measurements show that mean COlevels are significantly higher during low ice years. The COincrease is likely driven by ocean surface heating and uptake of atmospheric COwith large interannual variability in the contributions of these processes. These findings suggest that increased ice-free periods will further increase sea surface CO, reducing the Canada Basin’s current role as a net sink of atmospheric CO.

The Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is a project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to advance the science of Arctic physical, chemical, and biological marine modeling. It is further designed to foster collaboration with marine observationalists and those who wish to work with Arctic marine modelers, e.g., atmospheric scientists, glaciologists, hydrologists, terrestrial ecologists. FAMOS holds an annual workshop of ~120 people and spawns numerous collaborative projects that have filled three special JGR collections and more. Attendance at FAMOS workshops is a mix of senior researchers and early-career scientists. The final three days of the 4-day workshop consist of AGU-style short talks, break-out sessions, and panel discussions. But the first day is devoted to the FAMOS School, wherein ~ 40 graduate students, postdocs, and early career polar scientists attend 5 longer-format (~ 35 minute) lectures. Discussion sessions are especially highlighted, and senior scientists in attendance are not allowed to speak. A “wild card” after-lunch session is devoted to various topics, e.g., outreach, alternate career choices, and geoengineering. The day ends with a working dinner in which further discussions and networking occur. School attendees are typically gender-balanced and have included students from non-traditional Arctic countries (e.g., Iran, Brazil, Egypt). The FAMOS School has been very successful, as measured by participant feedback and by the number of applications received (i.e., more than we can accommodate each year). A key outcome has been to bolster confidence in the early-career students, so that they are more willing to actively participate in the following days’ activities. This is also enhanced by naming them as session and discussion chairs, and by suppressing the tendency of senior scientists to “hog the microphone.” Discussion at FAMOS workshops has significantly influenced the focus of many PhD projects and spawned a number of student-led research papers. A main lesson learned from the FAMOS School is that just inviting students to a workshop or into a research community is not enough: One must also take active steps to foster confidence and give them a voice. The good news is that this really works.

The Arctic Ocean's Wandel Sea is the easternmost sector of the Last Ice Area, where thick, old sea ice is expected to endure longer than elsewhere. Nevertheless, in August 2020 the area experienced record-low sea ice concentration. Here we use satellite data and sea ice model experiments to determine what caused this record sea ice minimum. In our simulations there was a multi-year sea-ice thinning trend due to climate change. Natural climate variability expressed as wind-forced ice advection and subsequent melt added to this trend. In spring 2020, the Wandel Sea had a mixture of both thin and---unusual for recent years---thick ice, but this thick ice was not sufficiently widespread to prevent the summer sea ice concentration minimum. With continued thinning, more frequent low summer sea ice events are expected. We suggest that the Last Ice Area, an important refuge for ice-dependent species, is less resilient to warming than previously thought.

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys (SIZRS) is a multi-investigator program of repeated ocean, ice, and atmospheric measurements. These measurements make use of U.S. Coast Guard flights across the Beaufort-Chukchi Sea seasonal sea ice zone (SIZ), the region between maximum winter ice extent and minimum summer ice extent. The long-term goal of SIZRS is to track and understand the interplay among the ice, atmosphere, and ocean, contributing to the rapid decline in summer ice extent. The fundamental SIZRS approach is to make monthly flights, June to October, with US Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak C-130s across the Beaufort Sea SIZ along 150°W from 72°N to 76°N or ~ 1 degree of latitude north of the ice edge, whichever is farther north. We make oceanography stations every degree of latitude by dropping Aircraft eXpendable CTDs (AXCTDs) and Aircraft eXpendable Current Profilers (AXCPs) typically while traveling northbound (PI: J. Morison). On the return leg, we drop atmospheric dropsondes from 3000 meters altitude to measure atmospheric temperature, humidity, and winds (PI: A. Schweiger). We also drop UpTempO drifting buoys that report time series of ocean temperature profiles (PI: M. Steele) and various meteorology and ice-tracking buoys of the International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP, PI: I. Rigor).