The impact of black carbon emissions from projected Arctic shipping on regional ice transport

Xueke Li*, Amanda H. Lynch, David A. Bailey, Scott R. Stephenson, Siri Veland

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The direct and indirect effects of global emissions of black carbon (BC) on the evolution of Arctic climate has been well documented. The significance of within-Arctic emissions of BC is less certain. In light of this, an ensemble of scenarios are developed that simulate the hypothetical diversion of 75% of current and projected shipping traffic from the Suez Canal to the Northern Sea Route (NSR). This experiment shows that BC from ships results in a small change in climate forcing that does not influence the Arctic-wide trajectory of change. However, the shift in forcing from the Suez route to the NSR not only influences regional evolution of sea ice cover, but also results in regional feedbacks that in some locations amplify (e.g. Greenland Sea) and in other locations damp (e.g. Labrador Sea) the sea ice retreat under anthropogenic climate change. The primary mechanism underlying these regional effects is a shift in circulation rather than direct thermodynamic forcing. The most significant impacts are distal from the emissions sources, which is likely to have policy implications as the expansion of industrial and transportation activities into the Arctic is considered.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2453-2466
Number of pages14
JournalClimate Dynamics
Volume57
Issue number9-10
Early online date18 Nov 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Aerosols and particles
  • Ice
  • Earth system modeling
  • Climate change and variability
  • Arctic region

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The impact of black carbon emissions from projected Arctic shipping on regional ice transport'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this