This session provides a forum for discussion of the latest results on ways in which the polar climate is changing under the stress of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, and on model simulations of future change. Papers are welcome on processes in the atmosphere, sea ice cover, ocean and land (including ice sheets) in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Of particular relevance are results from the EU field programs DAMOCLES and ASOP projects, which seek to understand changes in the Arctic Ocean and its ice cover, and its interaction with the adjacent subarctic oceans. Decadal simulations utilizing data from these and earlier field programs (VEINS,ESOP) are of particular interest.
In the Arctic atmosphere, methane levels have been sharply increasing since 2007, leading to possible accelerated climate warming. This warming could release more methane from the arctic permafrost and tundra, and the gas hydrate deposits in the sea and lakes. So far the newly active sources are unknown. Papers are welcome that will contribute to the understanding of these processes, i.,e sources, sinks, feedback mechanisms and their temporal variations.