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The flow and variability of sea-ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: modelling the past (1950-2004) and the future (2041-2060)

DSpace at University of Victoria

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Creator Sou, Theressa V.
 
Date 2007-08-28T18:56:29Z
2007-08-28T18:56:29Z
2007
2007-08-28T18:56:29Z
 
Identifier http://hdl.handle.net/1828/208
 
Description Considering the recent losses observed in Arctic sea-ice and the anticipated
future warming due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions,
sea-ice retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is expected.
As most global climate models do not resolve the CAA region,
a fine-resolution regional model is developed to provide a sense of possible
changes in the CAA sea-ice. This ice-ocean coupled model is forced with
atmospheric data for two time-periods. Results from a historical run (1950-2004)are used to validate the model. The model does well in representing observed
sea-ice spatial and seasonal variability, but tends to underestimate summertime
ice cover. In the future run (2041-2060), wintertime ice concentrations change
little, but the summertime ice concentrations decrease by 45%. The ice
thickness also decreases, by 17% in the winter, and by 36% in summer.
Based on this study, a completely ice-free CAA is unlikely by the year 2050,
but the region could support some commercial shipping.
 
Language English
en
 
Rights Available to the World Wide Web
 
Subject sea-ice
Canadian Arctic
UVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Earth and Ocean Sciences::Physical geography
 
Title The flow and variability of sea-ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: modelling the past (1950-2004) and the future (2041-2060)
 
Type Thesis
 
Contributor Flato, Gregory M.
Weaver, Andrew J.