Paper Guidelines

Each lab group will each present a seminal paper (or several papers) on an important topic in polar science at some point throughout the semester. Make sure that your presentation is ready to go at the start of the class period. These papers will be related to the subjects in the course, but will allow the group to investigate a particular aspect in more detail. The presentations should be about 15 minutes long. Both group members should be involved in all portions of the work and presentation. The presentation should clearly explain the problem being investigated, what was done, what the results were, and what the significance of the results are. The presentations can be fairly informal, and the rest of the class is encouraged to ask questions. Ideally, this will work like a seminar, with an open discussion of the topic (remember class participation is part of your grade).

Groups should select from the topics listed below. The selection must be approved by the instructor to ensure a balance of topics. These are chosen with a focus on Arctic (or occasionally Antarctic) climate change, so that all papers are somewhat related and hopefully will promote open discussion of the relationships between them. The most relevant paper is listed, but you may use other papers to enhance your presentation and other background materials to help you understand the details. In some cases, the primary paper is quite short, so two or three related short papers are listed, all of which should be presented. Other topics can be chosen, but must be approved. Depending on what topics are chosen, some papers may be reassigned to provide a balance of information. Your presentation will be scheduled according to your choice of topic, but all will occur during the last few weeks of class. The schedule will be set based on topics chosen.

Topics

Changes in the Sea Ice Cover

1. Thin and thinner - the dramatic thinning of the Arctic ice cover

   Yu, Y., G. A. Maykut, and D. A. Rothrock, 2004, Changes in the thickness distribution of Arctic sea ice between 1958-1970 and 1993-1997, J. Geophys. Res. vol 109, C08004, doi:10.1029/2003JC001982

    

2. Towards and ice free Arctic - Decrease in sea ice extent over the past 30 years

   1. Parkinson, C. L., D.J. Cavalieri, P. Gloersen, H.J. Zwally, and J.C. Comiso, 1999, Arctic sea ice extent, area, and trends, J. Geophys. Res, 104, 20,387-20,856.

   2. M.C. Serreze, J.A. Maslanik, T.A. Scambos, F. Fetterer, J. Stoeve, K. Knowles, C. Fowler, S. Drobot, R.G. Barry, and T.M Haran, 2003, A record minimum arctic sea ice extent and area in 2002, J. Geophys. Res, Vol. 30(30, 1110, doi:10.1029/2002GL016406

      Note: there are many other similar articles you could choose from.

    

3. Not so fast - Has there actually been thinning of the ice, or is it natural?

   Holloway, G. and T. Sou, 2002, Has Arctic sea ice rapidly thinned? J. Climate, 15, 1691-1698

Oceanographic Changes

1. Regime change - Effects of Atmospheric changes on ice-ocean circulation

   Proshutinsky, A.Y. and M.A. Johnson, 1997. Two circulation regimes of the wind-driven Arctic Ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 102(C6), 12,493-12,514.

    

2. The retreating Arctic ocean - Changes in the Arctic halocline

   Steele, M. and T. Boyd, 1998, Retreat of the cold halocline layer in the Arctic Ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 10,419-10,435.

    

3. The advancing North Atlantic - Changes in the warm water input to the Arctic

   1. Carmack, E.C., R.W. macdonald, R.G. Perkin, F.A. Mcluaglin, and R.J. Pearson, 1995: Evidence for warming of Atlantic Water in the Southern Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean: Results from the larsen-93 Expedition, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22(9), 1061-1064.

   2. Zhang, J., D.A. Rothrock, and M. Steele, 1998. Warming of the Arctic Ocean by a strengthened Atlantic inflow: Model results, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25(10), 1745-1748.

Atmospheric Variability and Climate

1. It's getting hotter - Recent changes in the Arctic

   Serreze, M.C., J.E. Walsh, F.S. Chapin III, T. Osterkamp, M. Dyurgerov, V. Romanovsky, W.C. Oechel, J. Morison, T. Zhang, and R.G. Barry, 2000. Observational evidence of recent change in the northern high-latitude environment, Climatic Change, 46, 159-207.

    

2. Taking the pressure off - Natural variability in the Arctic Atmosphere and its effects

   1. Hurrell, J.W., 1995. Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation: Regional temperatures and precipitation, Science, 269, 676-679.

   2. Wallace, D.W. and J.M. Wallace, 1998. The Arctic Oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25(9), 1297-1300.

   Note: these are just two of many articles that describe the Arctic Oscillation, you should find some info on a particular Arctic effect of the Arctic Oscillation.

Glaciers and Changes in Ice Sheets

1. Where has all the ice gone? - Shrinking of glaciers in Alaska and elsewhere
   1. Arendt, A. A., Keith A. Echelmeyer, W.D. Harrison, C.S Lingle, and V. B. Valentine, 2002. Rapid wastage of glaciers and their contribution to sea level, Science, 297, 382-386.

   2. Dyurgerov, M. and M. Meier, 1997. Arctic and Alpine Research, 29, 392.

    

2. Goodbye Florida - the breakup of ice shelves and the West Antarctic Ice Shelf

   1. Rignot, E., G. Casassa, P. Gogineni, W. Krabill, A. Rivera, and R. Thomas, 2004. Accelerated ie discharge from the Antarctic Peninsula following the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf, Geophys. Res. Lett, 31, L18401, doi:10.1029/2004GL020697.

   2. Scambos, T.A., J.A. Bohlander, C.A. Shuman, and P. Skarvca, 2004. Glacier acceleration and thinning after ice shelf collapse in the Larsen B embayment, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett, 31, L18402, doi:10.1029/2004GL020670.

   3. Thomas, R.H., T.J.O. Sanderson, K.E. Rose, 1977. Effect of climatic warming on the West Antarctic ice sheet, Nature, 277, 355-358.

Past Climate and Abrupt Climate Change

1. The "Day After Tomorrow" hypothesis - The role of ice sheets in rapid climate change

   1. Broecker, W.S. 1997. Thermohaline circulation, the Achilles Heel of our climate system: will man-made CO₂ upset the current balance, Science, 278, 1582-1588.

   2. Broecker, W.S. 1994. Massive iceberg discharges as triggers for global climate change, Nature, 372, 421-424.

Biology and Climate Change

1. Penguins and polar bears - how biology is affected by climate change

   1. Stirling, I. N.J. Lunn, J. Iacozza, 1999. Long-term trends in the population ecology of polar bears in western Hudson Bay in relation to climate change, Arctic, 52, 294-306

   2. Barbaud, C. and H. Weimerskirch, 2001. Emperor penguins and climate change, Nature, 411, 183-186.

    

2. Bugs and Whales -Biology as an indicator of climate change

   1. De La Mare, W. 1997. Abrupt mid-twentieth-century decline in Antarctic sea-ice extent from whaling records, Nature, 389, 57-59.

   2. Curran, M.A.J., T.D. van Ommen, V.I Morgan, k.L. Phillips, and A.S. Palmer. 2003. Ice Core Evidence for Antarctic Sea Ice Decline Since the 1950s, Science, 302, 1203-1206.

 

****ALL PRESENTATIONS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION IN THE FINAL EXAM!****
 

Schedule

It is the responsibility of each group to know when they will be presenting

Week	Date	Groups	Topic
13	11/15	2	Alaskan Glaciers
13	11/18	6	Past and Present Abrupt Change
14	11/22	1	Regime Change
14	11/24	5	Changes in the Arctic Halocline
15	11/29	3	Thinning Sea Ice?
15	12/01	7	Goodbye Florida
15	12/02	4	Penguins and Polar Bears