Climate relevant interactions and feedbacks: The key role of sea ice and snow in the polar and global climate system

Climate and Earth system models (ESMs) are key tools for projecting future climate change; however, these models have significant shortcomings regarding their descriptions of polar ocean-ice/snow-atmosphere interactions, limiting their effectiveness. The EU-funded CRiceS project will increase understanding of how rapid sea ice decline is interlinked with physical and chemical changes in the polar oceans and atmosphere. Consortium members will quantify the controlling chemical, biogeochemical and physical processes/interactions within the coupled ocean-ice/snow-atmosphere system through a comprehensive analysis of new and emerging in-situ and satellite observations. CRiceS will improve process, regional and climate models / ESMs to deliver improved quantification of feedback mechanisms within the Earth system.