Global climate models (GCMs) have not effectively considered how the response of arctic marine ecosystems to a warming climate will influence the climate system. A key response of arctic marine ecosystems that may substantially influence energy exchange in the Arctic is a change in dimethyl sulfide (DMS) emissions, because DMS influences cloud albedo. This response is closely tied to sea ice through its impacts on marine ecosystem carbon and sulfur cycling, and the ice-albedo feedback implicated in accelerated Arctic warming. This research involves numerical model development to improve the representation of sea ice and ocean DMS biogeochemical cycling in the Arctic, where a disproportionately high warming in expected. Recent model results suggest ice algae are a significant source of seawater DMS, particularly under melting sea ice in the northern Bering Sea and in shelf seas surrounding the central Arctic Ocean, in April and May, respectively. High seawater DMS simulated along the retreating ice edge is mostly attributed to ice edge phytoplankton blooms. As a consequence of the dramatic decrease in Arctic sea ice extent and thickness over the last several decades it appears that the trend in pan-Arctic DMS emissions is increasing. The overall goal is to include the climate-relevant biological and chemical processes identified in this study into Earth System models, which are currently the best available tools for projecting future climate change.

Influence of sea ice on Arctic marine sulfur biogeochemistry in the Community Earth System Model

246th National Meeting (2013)

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