A Huge Stretch of the Arctic Ocean is Rapidly Turning into the Atlantic. That’s Not a Good Sign – The Washington Post
Credit: Sigrid Lind.
Article Synopsis – The northern Barents Sea in the Arctic has been warming extremely rapidly, which is causing its physical characteristics to more closely resemble the Atlantic than the Arctic. The increasing temperatures have caused the Barents Sea to have less floating sea ice, become less thermally stratified and more salty. “Unless the freshwater input should recover, the entire region could soon have a warm and well-mixed water column structure and be part of the Atlantic domain, a historically rare moment where we would witness a large body of water being completely transformed from Arctic to Atlantic type,” the study concludes. This could lead to major consequences for the ecosystem as well as the fishing industry and global weather patterns. To read the actual article click here.