Scientists are studying how the amounts of wildfire smoke mixing with clouds over the Arctic Ocean may play a key role in determining how fast the Arctic sea ice cover will shrink during the next few decades, and when it will disappear completely in summer.
The study took a close look at the complex interaction of wildfire aerosol pollution, clouds and sea ice from 1997 to 2014, and its findings suggest that Arctic sea ice melts more during summers with relatively low fire activity.
The minute aerosol particles generated by wildfires are carried around the northern hemisphere by winds and sometimes swirl into the Arctic, where they can seed water droplets and brighten clouds, increasing the amount of light and heat they reflect away from the Earth.
So clouds over the Arctic Ocean may be thinner and less reflective in years with fewer fires, causing more surface heating and sea ice melt, said study co-author Alexandra Jahn.
What happens with the sea ice also affects wildfires, with research showing that ice loss causes regional warming of land and sea surfaces, leading to hotter, drier and more fire-prone conditions in the Western U.S.
Jahn noted that the effect of wildfire aerosols on sea ice could be described as a negative feedback, “because when we have fewer fires, Arctic sea ice loss will be accelerated, and if we have more fires, it doesn’t accelerate it.”
www.insideclimatenews.org/news/27072022/wildfire-pollution-may-play-a-surprising-role-in-the-fate-of-arctic-sea-ice/