IMPACT OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CONCENTRATION ON ANTARCTIC SEA ICE.

Abstract

Five numerical experiments were conducted using a coupled model of intermediate complexity, lasting for 1500 modeled years, using different CO2 concentrations (500, 600, 700 and 800 ppm). It was observed that increased atmospheric CO2 concentration leads to a warming in the Southern Hemisphere polar region with serious implications on the sea ice cover. Numerical results revealed ice thickness reduction up to 1m in Weddell and  Amuddsen Seas. In east Antarctic, from the Ross Sea to the Indian part of Antarctic Ocean, the absence of sea ice is the most prominent feature in the sensitivity experiments. The initial investigation indicates that the enhanced oceanic heat transport plays the main role in the modifications of the Southern Hemisphere sea ice under different CO2 concentration as determined by the CO2 simulations.