Articles | Volume 4, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-95-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-95-2023
Review article
 | Highlight paper
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18 Jan 2023
Review article | Highlight paper |  | 18 Jan 2023

Reconciling conflicting evidence for the cause of the observed early 21st century Eurasian cooling

Stephen Outten, Camille Li, Martin P. King, Lingling Suo, Peter Y. F. Siew, Hoffman Cheung, Richard Davy, Etienne Dunn-Sigouin, Tore Furevik, Shengping He, Erica Madonna, Stefan Sobolowski, Thomas Spengler, and Tim Woollings

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Cited articles

American Meteorological Society: Teleconnection, Glossary of Meteorology, https://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Teleconnection (last access: 12 January 2023), 2021. a, b
Årthun, M. and Eldevik, T.: On anomalous ocean heat transport toward the Arctic and associated climate predictability, J. Climate, 29, 689–704, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0448.1, 2016. a
Barnes, E. A. and Screen, J. A.: The impact of Arctic warming on the midlatitude jet-stream: Can it? Has it? Will it?, WIRES Clim. Change, 6, 277–286, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.337, 2015. a
Barsugli, J. J. and Battisti, D. S.: The basic effects of atmosphere–ocean thermal coupling on midlatitude variability, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 477–493, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<0477:TBEOAO>2.0.CO;2, 1998. a
Bintanja, R.: The impact of Arctic warming on increased rainfall, Sci. Rep.-UK, 8, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34450-3, 2018. a
Executive editor
This paper analyses the extensive scientific debate around the potential influence of Arctic warming and sea ice loss on recent cooling trends over the Eurasian continent. It provides a novel, holistic perspective on this debate that goes beyond a simple yes or no answer to the question whether a causal link exists between these two phenomena. As such, it has the potential to bring together seemingly diverging portrayals existing in the literature.
Short summary
Strong disagreement exists in the scientific community over the role of Arctic sea ice in shaping wintertime Eurasian cooling. The observed Eurasian cooling can arise naturally without sea-ice loss but is expected to be a rare event. We propose a framework that incorporates sea-ice retreat and natural variability as contributing factors. A helpful analogy is of a dice roll that may result in cooling, warming, or anything in between, with sea-ice loss acting to load the dice in favour of cooling.