2025 Data (Information)

Data: Can Arctic Sea Ice Melting Lead to More Summertime Heat Extremes?

Wu, Yutian

The dataset includes the key variables that were used to generate the figures in "Can Arctic Sea Ice Melting Lead to More Summertime Heat Extremes?" submitted.

We quantify the impact of late 21st century Arctic sea ice loss on Northern Hemisphere (NH) summertime heat extremes using model simulations that are forced by the future Arctic sea ice loss. First, we find an overall increase of heat extreme frequency in the NH continents in our model simulations, but only in the presence of ocean-atmosphere coupling. The increased frequency of heat extremes is mostly due to mean temperature increase. However, in comparison to future warming scenario, in general, increases in heat extremes in NH continents due to the future Arctic sea ice loss are relatively small. The results suggest a non-negligible but limited role of the future Arctic sea ice loss on contributing to the NH summertime heat extremes.

More on variables: The dataset includes variables such as the Arctic sea ice fraction, boreal summer (June-July-August) mean near-surface temperature, and ratio of heat extreme frequency that are calculated from the CESM1-WACCM4 constrained sea ice model simulations.