Smoke from Western wildfires can influence Arctic sea ice

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Sea ice and wildfires may be more interconnected than previously
thought, according to new research out today in Science Advances.

By digging into differences between climate models, researchers from
the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR) found that soot and other burned biomass
from wildfires here in Colorado and elsewhere in the Northern
Hemisphere can eventually make their way to the Arctic. Once there, it
can affect how much -- or how little -- sea ice persists at any given
time.

This, in turn, can cause ripple effects on climatic patterns for the
rest of the globe, reinforcing a feedback loop between the two systems
in a way that hasn't been previously seen.

"This research found that particles emitted from wildfires where people
live can really impact what happens in the Arctic thousands of miles
away," said Patricia DeRepentigny (PhDAtmos'21), the lead author on the
paper and a postdoctoral fellow at NCAR.

"Sometimes the Arctic can be seen as this region that we shouldn't care
about because it's so far away from where we live … but the fact that
there's this back-and-forth of what happens here with the wildfires can
affect the sea ice, and a diminishing sea ice can then lead to more
wildfires here, connects us with the Arctic a little bit more."...
(continue)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220727163049.htm

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