The Arctic has warmed up sharply in recent decades, with the highest temperature rise observed in the Barents Sea. Observations of temperature changes in the Arctic were carried out from 1970 to 2016. A sharp increase in ocean temperature and salinity has been noted since the mid-2000s, writes Natural Climate Change. This may be due to a decrease in the volume of ice melting and, accordingly, in the volume of fresh water entering the ocean. This, in turn, leads to a disruption in the separation of water layers - fresh and salty - in density and their mixing, and to the prevention of sea ice formation and an increase in ocean temperatures.
Thus, the Barents Sea may soon lose signs of the Arctic climate and may soon become part of the warmer Atlantic climate system. Such a shift will have unknown consequences for the Barents Sea ecosystem, which is home to ice-dependent mammals. It is unclear how these changes will affect the fish stocks in the region, the newspaper emphasizes.
