US CLIVAR Working Group: Arctic Change and Possible Influence on Mid-latitude Climate and Weather

Abstract:

The Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification (AA). These profound changes to the Arctic system have coincided with a period of ostensibly more frequent events of extreme weather across the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, including extreme heat and rainfall events and recent severe winters. The possible link between Arctic change and mid-latitude weather has spurred a rush of new observational and modeling studies. These studies have argued that heavy precipitation events and heat waves are at least partially attributable to Arctic warming. A growing number of recent studies even argue that recent extreme winter weather is related to AA. In part due to the high impact of extreme weather on our society, some of these studies linking AA to the increased frequency of extreme weather have garnered public and media attention. At the same time, uncertainties from the large intrinsic variability of the system, the short observational record due to the recentness of AA and the shortcomings of global climate models have also resulted in much skepticism in any argued links between AA and severe weather. This in turn has resulted in a number of workshops trying to frame the problem and laying the groundwork to improve our understanding of Arctic-mid-latitude linkages and accurate attribution of extreme weather events.

Although these workshops identified existing problems and difficulties, and provided broad recommendations, they did not synthesize the diversified research results to identify where community consensus and gaps exist. Therefore we have assembled many of the leading scientists researching Arctic-mid-latitude linkages as part of a US CLIVAR working group. Through the three-year efforts of this working group, we will use the outcome of the previous workshops and newly planned activities to guide the synthesis efforts, coordinate on-going research to fill out key gaps, and provide specific recommendations for accelerating scientific progress. The working group will also coordinate/integrate efforts on the topic with other national and international programs.