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Polar

Climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic

About the Research Group

Polar regions are of global importance. Home to the large ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, they contain a large amount of the Earth’s freshwater, which, if unleashed, would have severe impacts on global sea level and ocean circulation. Polar oceans also produce water masses that are vital to the global ocean circulation, and their sea-ice cover impacts Earth’s albedo and supports a unique marine habitat/ecosystems.  

Ongoing climate change is also most pronounced in Polar regions. Visible manifestations of Polar climate change are the loss of Arctic sea ice, retreat of the West Antarctic ice sheets, and a warming of the ocean and atmosphere that is much faster than the global average. These changes in the climate system do not only impact Polar regions but can be felt across the globe. 

The Polar research theme brings together researchers interested in the Polar climate system across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This includes atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the high northern and southern latitudes, atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions, the dynamics of ice shelves, ice sheets, and sea ice, and how Polar regions interact with lower latitudes. 

Research Focus

The observational basis and prognostic capabilities, ranging from weather forecasts via climate predictions to climate projections, are continuously improved by dedicated fieldwork providing new data and direct process understanding.

Present research priorities include:

  • Antarctic ice shelves.
  • field work in the ice-covered Arctic.
  • the “seamless” extension of the instrumental record with high-resolution paleo reconstructions.
  • disentangling oceanic and atmospheric influences on sea ice conditions (and vice versa).
  • the routing of freshwater, and polar weather and climate prediction, including predictability over land.
  • the general challenge of understanding the role of the polar regions in global climate.

Strategic projects

Illustrasjonsbilde

The Breathing Ocean

In O2Ocean (2022–2025) researchers from the Bjerknes Centre, NORCE, the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center and the Institute of Marine Research, look into why climate models have underestimated the observed decline in marine oxygen levels. This is needed to improve projections of future oxygen conditions

Illustrasjonsbilde

Sea level projection and reconstruction unit

The project SeaPR is the new sea level prediction and reconstruction unit at Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. 

We will provide and increase confidence in sea level predictions and projections for more informed decision making. 

 

Research leader and co-leader

The Research Group

Selected projects

Illustrasjonsbilde

Resilient northern overturning in a warming climate

In ROVER the researchers will observe the deep-water formation along east Greenland, both through a winter expedition on an icebreaker, using mooring across the Greenland slope, and autonomous underwater gliders. The measurement campaign will provide groundbreaking data, cruical for the understanding of the processes that supply cold, deep water to the lower limb of the AMOC.