The Importance of Non‐CO2 Greenhouse Gases to Arctic Warming and Sea‐Ice Loss
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Journal Volume
53
Journal Issue
10
ISSN
0094-8276
1944-8007
Date Issued
2026-05-14
Author(s)
Polvani, Lorenzo M.
Previdi, Michael
Dong, Yue
Wu, You‐Ting
England, Mark R.
Griffith, Stephen M.
Abstract
Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the main cause of Arctic climate change. While carbon dioxide ((Formula presented.)) is undoubtedly the largest contributor, the impact of non- (Formula presented.) GHGs on the Arctic system has not been quantified to date. Here we perform and analyze a new set of climate model experiments designed for this purpose. Focusing on the period 1955–2015, we show that the five important non- (Formula presented.) GHGs have warmed the Arctic by 0.72–1.11 K, and melted 0.90–1.21 million (Formula presented.) of September sea ice. These values amount to 60%–90% of the impacts from (Formula presented.) alone. Individual forcing experiments reveal that ozone-depleting substances have caused the strongest non- (Formula presented.) impact, followed by tropospheric ozone and methane, with smaller roles for nitrous oxide and stratospheric ozone. Our findings suggest an alternative pathway to mitigate Arctic climate change, whose effectiveness may depend on whether non- (Formula presented.) emissions are abated separately from each other or concomitantly.
Subjects
Arctic sea ice loss
Arctic warming
non-CO2 greenhouse gases
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Type
journal article