Role of sea ice in formation of wintertime arctic temperature anomalies

Numerical experiments with the ECHAM5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) using the empirical HadISST1.1 data on sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentration (SIC) in the 20th century as boundary conditions are analyzed. The experiments show that the model correctly reproduces the wintertime Arctic warming in the last 30 years of the 20th century but is unable to reproduce mid-20th century warming. Because the wintertime Arctic surface air temperature changes are closely related to SIC anomalies, it is assumed that one reason for this discrepancy is the lack of a negative SIC anomaly in the prescribed boundary conditions during a mid-20th century warm period. It is also shown that the model with-out prescribed ice cover changes does not reproduce a temperature trend in the Arctic in recent 30 years of the 20th century. The experimental results indicate that the mid-20th century warming was accompanied by a significant negative anomaly of the wintertime Arctic sea ice extent comparable to current trends and also point to a considerable contribution of natural variability to modern climate changes.