Atlantic Ocean Water Slowly Melting the Arctic Sea Ice

 

First confirmation of Atlantification expanding to Western Arctic Ocean...Possible sea ice reduction and ecosystem changes

 

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Kang Do-hyung) disclosed that a Korean research team confirmed for the first time in the world that the Atlantification phenomenon—known to be causing the melting of the Arctic Ocean—has expanded to the West Arctic Ocean.

 

 Atlantification refers to the phenomenon wherein the warm, saline Atlantic water spreads further into the Arctic Ocean as the inflow of Atlantic seawater increases due to climate change. As Atlantification progresses, the temperature and salinity of the Arctic Ocean rise; if the increased heat reaches the surface layer, it melts even ice.

 

 A research team led by Dr. Cho Kyung-Ho, Dr. Jeong Jin-young, and Dr. Yang Eun-jin of the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) collaborated with the University of Alaska and other institutions to observe the East Siberian Sea of the West Artic Ocean using a Korean long-term mooring observation system for 7 years from 2017 and confirmed the intensification of Atlantification.

 

 As the high-temperature, high-salinity seawater affected by Atlantification has a relatively high density and it is located in the middle layer of the Arctic Ocean, the top layer of the high-temperature, high-salinity seawater observed by the research team in the West Arctic Ocean has risen 90 cm in about 20 years compared to the early 2000s. This is the first time that Atlantification has extended to the opposite side of the Arctic Ocean in the long term, and the research team presented the numerical change through long-term annual observations.

 

 According to the research team, Atlantification also affects marine ecosystems by transporting nutrients to the surface and heat. Nutrients are food for primary producers like phytoplankton and sea-ice microalgae. As nutrients have become more abundant on the surface due to Atlantification, they have contributed to the proliferation of marine surface organisms and increased marine productivity.

 

 This research was supported by the Polar and Marine Environment and Seabed R&D and Survey, and the findings were published in the internationally renowned journal Science Advance* in February 2025. *Atlantification advances into the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean (Feb. 2025)

 

 "This research was an in-depth analysis of changes in the West Arctic Ocean, a region with limited access and prior research using Korea's original technology. It shows the changes faced by the Arctic, such as declining sea ice and shifts in marine ecosystems. MOF will continue supporting polar research and research on climate change," Minister Kang Do-hyung said.