Summary: This Cold Call contains four articles that explore how sea ice interacts with the climate, ocean and ecosystem functions across regional and global scales, and highlights where Antarctic Science Platform research is investigating these issues.
Summary: Sea ice plays a crucial role in the life cycles of many Antarctic organisms, from the algae at the base of food chains, to seals and penguins at the top.
Summary: Antarctic sea ice has an annual seasonal cycle of formation and melting, plus it’s exposed to the winds and storms of the Southern Ocean and to a range of climate influences from near and far.
Summary: Formation of Antarctic sea ice affects ocean circulation across the globe. Understanding the mechanisms linking these phenomena is crucially important to understand the impacts of future change in Antarctica.
Authors: Miles Lamare, Vonda Cummings, Ian Hawes and Rowan Howard-Williams
Summary: The Southern Ocean mops up anthropogenic CO2 emissions. But acting as a ‘sink’ for this excess heat and carbon dioxide is having an effect on the ocean and the ecosystems it supports.
Authors: Jocelyn Turnbull and Rowan Howard-Williams
Summary: A key question for understanding future climate impacts is what drives the uptake of carbon into sinks, and how that might change. The Southern Ocean absorbs by far the most carbon dioxide of any region of the world.