Atlantification

Context: Recently, Scientists have uncovered “hotspots” where some parts of the Barents Sea are starting to more closely resemble the Atlantic. They call this phenomenon “Atlantification”.

About Atlantification

• In the seas above Scandinavia, there is a point where the Arctic Ocean collides with the warmer, saltier waters of the Atlantic.
• This Arctic region – known as the Barents Sea – has undergone rapid change in recent decades. Air temperatures here have risen at more than four times the global average rate since the start of the industrial era.
• There is growing evidence, suggest that the unique structure of the Arctic Ocean could be shifting in this region. Scientists have uncovered “hotspots” where some parts of the Barents Sea are starting to more closely resemble the Atlantic. They call this phenomenon “Atlantification”.

Reasons

• In the background of all of this is global climate change.
• The Arctic sea ice extent and thickness have been dropping for decades as global temperatures rise.
• As the Arctic loses ice and the ocean absorbs more solar radiation, global warming is amplified.
• That affects ocean circulation, weather patterns and Arctic ecosystems spanning the food chain, from phytoplankton all the way to top predators.