Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Projected Changes in Timing and 

Extent of Sea Ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Open-File Report 2010–1176
Cover: Sea ice in the Chukchi Sea on July 9, 2010, in a region northwest of Barrow, 

Alaska that was near the southern edge of the retreating ice pack. Photograph by 

Dan Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Projected Changes in Timing and 

Extent of Sea Ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas 

By D.C. Douglas 

Open-File Report 2010–1176 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Marcia K. McNutt, Director 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2010 

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Suggested citation: 

Douglas, D.C., 2010, Arctic sea ice decline: Projected changes in timing and extent of sea ice in the Bering and 

Chukchi Seas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1176, 32 p. 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual 

copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. 
Contents

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Methods...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Results........................................................................................................................................................................ 5

Sea Ice Observations.............................................................................................................................................. 5

GCM Subsets.......................................................................................................................................................... 6

21st Century Projections ......................................................................................................................................... 7

Discussion .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................................................... 12

References Cited...................................................................................................................................................... 13

Figures 

Figure 1. Extent of the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea study areas (green shade), spanning shelf waters 

greater than –150 meters deep and bounded longitudinally by the distribution of the Pacific walrus population ..... 17

Figure 2. Box and whisker notation used in this report ........................................................................................... 18

Figure 3. Monthly proportional extent of ice in the Bering Sea and open water in the Chukchi Sea, during the 

earliest and most recent decades of the satellite data record.................................................................................. 19

Figure 4. Monthly proportional ice extent in the Bering Sea and open water in the Chukchi Sea, simulated by 18 

GCMs and 2 GCM subsets, and as observed by satellite during 1979–2008 .......................................................... 20

Figure 5. Late 20th century simulations and 21st century projections of March ice cover and total annual ice-free 

months in the Bering Sea, and September ice cover and total annual ice-free months in the Chukchi Sea, by 18 

GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets with the A1B forced scenario ......................................................................... 21

Figure 6. Projected sea ice extent in the combined Bering and Chukchi Seas during the mid- and late 

21st century by 18 CMIP3 general circulation models (G18), and 2 selected model subsets (SD2 and SD1)......... 22

Figure 7. General patterns of projected sea ice changes in the combined Bering and Chukchi Seas. ................... 23

Figure 8. Projected monthly proportional ice extent in the Bering Sea, and open water in the Chukchi Sea 

during the mid- and last decades of the 21st century by 18 GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets with the 

A1B forced scenario ................................................................................................................................................ 24

Figure 9. Monthly location of projected median sea ice edges at mid- (yellow) and late (red) century 

based on A1B forcing scenario and the Bering Sea SD2 subset in December–May and the Chukchi 

Sea SD2 subset in June–November........................................................................................................................ 25

Figure 10. Number of ice-free months per year for 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century, projected 

by 18 GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1)..................................................................................... 27

Figure 11. Number of years per decade projected to be ice-free in the Bering Sea by 18 GCMs and 

2 selected GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1), for each month, during each of 5 decadal periods spanning 

the 21st century ....................................................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 12. Number of years per decade projected to be ice-free in the Chukchi Sea by 18 GCMs and 2 selected 

GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1), for each month, during each of 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century ........ 29

iii 
iv 

Tables 

Table 1. General circulation models used in this study and their status in each of two model subsets 

for the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea study areas .................................................................................................... 30

Table 2. Percentage of change in the monthly proportion of sea ice extent in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea 

study areas between the earliest decade of satellite observations (1979–1988) and two future decades 

(2045–2054 and 2090–2099), and similarly for the most recent decade of observations (1999–2008)................... 31

Conversion Factors 

Multiply By To obtain 

kilometer (km) 0.6214 mile (mi) 

square kilometer (km2) 0.3861 square mile (mi2) 

Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows: 

°F=(1.8×°C)+32. 

Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) may be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) as follows: 

°C=(°F-32)/1.8. 

List of Acronyms 

20C3M GHG forcing scenario, 20th Century Experiment (simulation) 

A1B GHG forcing scenario, ‘business as usual’, 2100 CO2 stabilizes ~715 ppm 

A2 GHG forcing scenario, 2100 CO2 increases to ~850 ppm 

AR4 fourth and most recent IPCC reporting period 

CCSM3 Community Climate System Model version 3 

CMIP3 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 

CO2 carbon dioxide 

GCM general circulation model 

GHG greenhouse gas 

GMAT global mean annual temperature 

HadGEM1 Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 1 

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center 

SD1 multimodel GCM subset based on 1 standard deviation tolerance 

SD2 multimodel GCM subset based on 2 standard deviation tolerance 

SRES Special Report on Emission Scenarios 

USGS U.S. Geological Survey 

ppm parts per million 
Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Projected Changes in Timing and 

Extent of Sea Ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas 

By D.C. Douglas 

Abstract 

The Arctic region is warming faster than most regions of the world due in part to increasing 

greenhouse gases and positive feedbacks associated with the loss of snow and ice cover. One 

consequence has been a rapid decline in Arctic sea ice over the past 3 decades—a decline that is 

projected to continue by state-of-the-art models. Many stakeholders are therefore interested in how 

global warming may change the timing and extent of sea ice Arctic-wide, and for specific regions. To 

inform the public and decision makers of anticipated environmental changes, scientists are striving to 

better understand how sea ice influences ecosystem structure, local weather, and global climate. Here, 

projected changes in the Bering and Chukchi Seas are examined because sea ice influences the presence 

of, or accessibility to, a variety of local resources of commercial and cultural value. In this study, 21st 

century sea ice conditions in the Bering and Chukchi Seas are based on projections by 18 general 

circulation models (GCMs) prepared for the fourth reporting period by the Intergovernmental Panel on 

Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007. Sea ice projections are analyzed for each of two IPCC greenhouse gas 

forcing scenarios: the A1B ‘business as usual’ scenario and the A2 scenario that is somewhat more 

aggressive in its CO2 emissions during the second half of the century. A large spread of uncertainty 

among projections by all 18 models was constrained by creating model subsets that excluded GCMs that 

poorly simulated the 1979–2008 satellite record of ice extent and seasonality. 

At the end of the 21st century (2090–2099), median sea ice projections among all combinations 

of model ensemble and forcing scenario were qualitatively similar. June is projected to experience the 

least amount of sea ice loss among all months. For the Chukchi Sea, projections show extensive ice melt 

during July and ice-free conditions during August, September, and October by the end of the century, 

with high agreement among models. High agreement also accompanies projections that the Chukchi Sea 

will be completely ice covered during February, March, and April at the end of the century. Large 

uncertainties, however, are associated with the timing and amount of partial ice cover during the 

intervening periods of melt and freeze. For the Bering Sea, median March ice extent is projected to be 

about 25 percent less than the 1979–1988 average by mid-century and 60 percent less by the end of the 

century. The ice-free season in the Bering Sea is projected to increase from its contemporary average of 

5.5 months to a median of about 8.5 months by the end of the century. A 3-month longer ice- free 

season in the Bering Sea is attained by a 1-month advance in melt and a 2-month delay in freeze, 

meaning the ice edge typically will pass through the Bering Strait in May and January at the end of the 

century rather than June and November as presently observed. 

1 
Introduction 

Sea ice plays an important role in the Arctic climate system by modulating the exchange of heat 

between a warm ocean and a cold atmosphere (Barry and others, 1993). How global warming may 

change the contemporary status of sea ice raises both economic and cultural concerns. Short-term ice 

anomalies can influence novel weather patterns even at temperate latitudes (Budikova, 2009), although 

long-term changes can alter the structure of marine ecosystems (Grebmeier and others, 2006, 2010). In a 

future with less sea ice, commercial and subsistence fisheries in the Arctic will contend with changes in 

species composition and productivity (Vilhjálmsson and Hoel, 2005). Marine shipping and commercial 

resource extraction will realize new opportunities but introduce new environmental stresses (Nordquist 

and others, 2010). Less sea ice is expected to affect the distribution, abundance, and diversity of Arctic 

marine mammals (Moore and Huntington, 2008); many of which are important to the cultural heritage 

and subsistence lifestyle of coastal native communities throughout the circumpolar north (Hovelsrud 

and others, 2008). 

During the past 3 decades, satellite data indicate increasing temperatures and decreasing sea ice 

throughout the Arctic (Comiso and others, 2003; Johannessen and others, 2004; Arctic Climate Impact 

Assessment, 2005; Meier and others, 2007; Serreze and others, 2007; Perovich and Richter-Menge, 

2009). During 1979–2009, September ice extent Arctic-wide decreased at an average linear rate of 

79,000 km2/yr (National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2010), an area roughly the size of Nebraska. During 

the recent decade, however, the trend in Arctic sea ice loss has accelerated (Comiso and others, 2008). 

Arctic-wide, seven of the lowest annual minimum ice extents since 1979 have occurred in the past 8 

years (2002–2009). The record minimum extent in September 2007 (4.3 million km2) was 42 percent 

less than the 1979–1988 average. 

Observed trends of sea ice loss at regional scales exhibit a breadth of spatial and temporal 

variability (Meier and others, 2007). The most pronounced sea ice declines in the Arctic basin have been 

in the Barents and Chukchi Seas—the two regions that receive the largest inputs of ocean and air masses 

from southern latitudes. During 1979–2006, September ice extent in the Chukchi and Barents Seas 

decreased 26 and 22 percent per decade, respectively (Meier and others, 2007). In areas south of the 

Arctic basin, sea ice fluctuations are more directly influenced by natural variations in extratropical 

weather patterns. Winter ice extent in the Bering Sea has been particularly variable. March ice extent in 

the Bering Sea was near record minimum during 2000–2005, but near record maximum during 2007–

2010. 

The future status of sea ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas is a topic of particular interest in the 

two bordering countries, the United States (Alaska) and Russia (Chukotka Autonomous Region). The 

Bering Sea supports one of the most productive fisheries in the world (Bering Ecosystem Study, 2004) 

and the eastern Chukchi Sea has large petroleum reserves that are currently being explored and leased 

(Minerals Management Service, 2008). Both seas support a high diversity and abundance of resident 

and migratory marine mammals and birds (Springer and others, 1999). Because sea ice influences the 

presence of, or accessibility to, these varied resources, a broad spectrum of private and commercial 

stakeholders are interested in how global warming may change the timing and extent of sea ice in the 

Bering and Chukchi Seas. 

2 
The most sophisticated projections of future climate are based on general circulation models 

(GCMs). GCMs emulate the thermodynamic and dynamic transfers of energy and momentum, within 

and between the oceans, atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and cryosphere in a fully coupled global 

framework (McGuffie and Henderson-Sellers, 2005). Numerous GCMs have been developed by 

institutions worldwide. The GCM outputs are shared among all scientists through the World Climate 

Research Program’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) multi-model dataset 

(Meehl and others, 2007a). Under auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 

Change, member nations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) review literature 

about the GCM projections and publish reports that evaluate the risk of climate change caused by 

human activities. The fourth and most recent series of IPCC reports (AR4) was published in 2007. 

When forced with unmitigated scenarios of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) 

concentrations, all CMIP3 GCMs project declines in Arctic sea ice during the 21st century (Meehl and 

others, 2007b) but the magnitudes and rates of decline vary considerably among models (Zhang and 

Walsh, 2006). Under a similar forcing scenario, different GCMs project different outcomes due to 

natural climate variability and to structural and parameterization differences among the models (Knutti, 

2008; Hawkins and Sutton, 2009). The spread of uncertainty among projections of a multi-model 

ensemble is thus a mixture of simulating the Earth’s natural climate variability combined with inherent 

modeling uncertainty. The spread commonly is used as a benchmark for describing the uncertainty of 

climate model results, but it does not necessarily capture the full range of uncertainty that might 

otherwise be obtained if more model runs were conducted, or if new models were developed that 

incorporated more elements of the climate system. 

Culling models that poorly simulate observational data, or deemphasizing their weight in a 

multi-model ensemble is a commonly applied approach to constrain the spread of modeling uncertainty 

(Wang and Overland, 2009; Boe and others, 2010). Subsetting GCMs aims at reducing the breadth of 

uncertainty among ensemble models and to purportedly improve the GCMs collective forecasting 

proficiencies. The basic premise underlying the concept of subsetting assumes that models that 

demonstrate better proficiency in simulating observations may be better models for projecting future 

conditions, but there is no guarantee that such models actually possess better long-term extrapolations 

(Gleckler and others, 2008). Given the wide range of raw model results, however, culling those models 

that grossly misrepresent observations is a reasonable step toward excluding less reliable projections. 

Here, I present a comprehensive examination of 21st century sea ice projections in the Bering 

and Chukchi Seas by 18 CMIP3 GCMs. Although future sea ice conditions in the Bering and Chukchi 

Seas is a topic of broad interest, the primary impetus for this study was to provide an analysis of future 

habitat of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), a pinniped species strongly associated 

with sea ice. The study area extends over the extensive and shallow (greater than –150 m) continental 

shelf waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas (fig. 1). The northern and southern boundaries are 

terminated by steep shelf breaks, and the eastern and western boundaries are terminated by the 

contemporary range distribution of the Pacific walrus population (Fay, 1985). The Bering Sea and 

Chukchi Sea study areas encompass 934,000 and 709,000 km2

, respectively. The Chukchi Sea is one of 

seven commonly recognized shallow peripheral seas that surround the deep central Arctic Ocean. A 

prevailing northward flow of ocean currents through the Bering Strait strongly influences sea ice 

conditions in Chukchi Sea (Woodgate and others, 2010), as well as the thermal structure, nutrient 

loading, and freshwater budget of the Arctic Ocean (Woodgate and Aagaard, 2005). In the Bering Sea, 

the steep continental shelf-break promotes nutrient-rich upwellings that support a highly productive 

ecosystem (Springer and others, 1996), and limits the southernmost extent of winter ice formation 

(Alexander and Niebauer, 1981). 

3 
In this report, satellite observations of sea ice during the past 3 decades are presented to 

document current sea ice changes and to establish a baseline for comparing future changes. Projections 

and uncertainties are examined for the full 18-model ensemble and for two subsets that omit models that 

poorly simulate the satellite records of the extent and seasonality of ice cover. Results are presented for 

two unmitigated GHG forcing scenarios: A1B and A2 (Nakicenovic and others, 2000), with focus on 

the middle (2045–2054) and end (2090–2099) of the 21st century. In the A1B scenario, which is 

commonly called the ‘business as usual’ scenario, atmospheric CO2 concentration roughly doubles and 

stabilizes at about 720 ppm by the end of the century. The A2 scenario is somewhat more aggressive 

than the A1B scenario after mid-century as CO2 increases to about 850 ppm by 2100. Trends and 

uncertainties among the GCM sea ice projections are graphically illustrated and monthly maps are 

presented to convey a spatial context of the projected sea ice changes. 

Methods 

Modeled projections of sea ice concentration were obtained from the World Climate Research 

Programme's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) multi-model archive (Meehl 

and others, 2007a) for all GCMs that had monthly 21st century sea ice projections derived under each of 

two SRES greenhouse gas forcing scenarios (A1B and A2), as well as 20th century hindcasts from the 

20C3M scenario. When the CMIP3 data were acquired in May 2009, a total of 18 GCMs met the criteria 

above (table 1). Data were obtained for one model run (run #1) of each GCM and forcing scenario. 

Salient features of the CMIP3 GCMs are summarized by Randall and others (2007, table 8.1). Satellite 

observations of monthly sea ice concentration were obtained from the National Snow and Ice Data 

Center (NSIDC) final data archives for 1979–2007 (Cavalieri and others, 1996) and from preliminary 

archives for 2008 (Meier and others, 2006). The GCM data were transformed and resampled (using the 

nearest neighbor distance protocol) to a 25-km-resolution polar stereographic grid that was congruent to 

the NSIDC grid of sea ice observations. Depending on a given GCMs spatial resolution and terrestrial 

representation, some coastal margins rendered missing ice concentration data after resampling to the 25-

km grid. 

For each month, and independently for the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea study areas, the 

proportion of ice-covered ocean was calculated as the ratio of the summed area of pixels with equal to 

or greater than15 percent ice concentration to the summed area of all pixels with non-missing data. A 

ratio calculation was necessary to standardize the estimates of proportional ice cover because the GCMs 

varied in the total amount of the study area that was represented with non-missing ice concentration 

data. All area calculations accounted for distortions introduced by the polar stereographic map 

projection. A month was classified as ice-free for a given study area when the proportional ice cover 

was less than 10 percent. Attempts to use a smaller threshold for classifying an ice-free month tended to 

produce unstable results, owing in part to the coarse resolution of the raw GCM grids relative to the size 

of the study area, and to spurious estimates of summer ice along shorelines in the satellite observational 

data (Cavalieri and others, 1999). 

Subsets of the 18 GCMs were independently constructed for each study area. Subsets were 

constructed based on criteria that evaluated a GCMs proficiency in simulating the observational record 

of sea ice over the past 3 decades. A GCM was included in a subset based on two criteria—one that 

considered the quantity of ice and another that considered its seasonality (Wang and Overland, 2009). 

4 
For the Bering Sea, models included in a subset were required to simulate the 1979–2008 mean 

ice extent in March to within 2 standard deviations of the observed mean. March is the month of 

maximum ice extent in the Bering Sea. For the Chukchi Sea, the same criteria were used but for 

September, the month of minimum ice extent. Seasonality of the ice was evaluated based on a model’s 

proficiency in simulating the average number of ice-free months per year to within 2 standard 

deviations. Because ice-free months were uncommon in the Chukchi Sea until recently (even 1 standard 

deviation of the observed mean included zero), models included in a subset for the Chukchi Sea also 

were required to simulate at least 1 ice-free month during 1979–2008. 

Henceforth, model subsets for the Bering and Chukchi Seas that were defined with a 2 standard 

deviation tolerance are referred to as “SD2” subsets. The same subsetting procedure described above 

was applied a second time to create a more restrictive subset for each study area based on a 1 standard 

deviation tolerance (henceforth termed the “SD1” subsets). By construct, SD1 is a subset of its SD2 

counterpart. 

The observational period was intentionally extended beyond the end of the 20th century to 

include recent years (2000–2008) of pronounced sea ice change in the Chukchi Sea. The GCM 

simulations from the 20th century experiment (20C3M) were extended to 2008 by populating the early 

years of the 21st century with ice projections from either the A1B or A2 scenarios. The entire model 

screening procedure described above was done twice, once using simulations that had been extended 

with the A1B scenario and once using simulations extended with the A2 scenario. Models selected in 

either of the two screenings were included in the final SD2 and SD1 subsets for each study area (table 

1). The union of the two screenings was selected to increase the number of GCMs within a subset, but 

the net effect was modest in that 27 of the 31 total entries in table 1 were common to both screenings. 

Ice observations and the projections by individual GCMs were averaged over 10-year (decadal) 

periods to integrate the Arctic’s intrinsic interannual sea ice variability. For generalizing a multi-model 

ensemble, the median of the models’ decadal averages is reported because the GCM ice projections 

were not assumed to be normally distributed. Decadal results typically are graphed with box and 

whisker notation (fig. 2) to provide information about the full range and distribution of the samples. 

Samples for the ice projections are the individual models of a respective GCM ensemble; hence the box 

and whisker plots convey information about the spread of model uncertainty within the ensemble. 

Results 

Sea Ice Observations 

Because the Bering and Chukchi Seas are oriented strictly north and south of one another (fig. 

1), summer ice retreat in the Chukchi Sea does not commence until the vast majority of ice in the Bering 

Sea has melted, and conversely, autumn ice formation in the Bering Sea begins after the Chukchi Sea 

has all but completely frozen. This unique seasonal dynamic is highlighted in figure 3, which plots 

monthly proportional ice cover in the Bering Sea with open water cover (the inverse of ice cover) in the 

Chukchi Sea. The spring and autumn transition months, defined here as the period when the ice edge is 

passing through the Bering Strait, are clearly evident in figure 3. Contemporary sea ice typically retreats 

northward through the Bering Strait in June and advances southward through the Strait in November. 

5 
Winter ice extent in the Bering Sea has shown little evidence of change during the past 30 years 

(fig. 3). During the most recent decade of satellite observations (1999–2008), monthly ice extents in the 

Bering Sea generally have been more variable (wider interquartile range) than the earliest decade 

(1979–1988), especially during months of rapid ice growth (December and January) and melt (May). 

Summer ice cover in the Chukchi Sea has substantially declined (fig. 3). Presently, little ice 

remains at the end of the melt season in September. Ice-free conditions have been observed in 

September during several recent years, as well as August and October in 2005 and 2007. The Chukchi 

Sea freezes completely during the winter, a pattern that has not changed over the past 30 years. Because 

the transition months of June and November have remained unchanged, much larger areas of ice are 

presently melting and freezing in the Chukchi Sea over an equivalent time span. 

GCM Subsets 

Screening the GCMs substantially reduced the spread of uncertainty among models of the SD2 

and SD1 subsets compared to that of the full 18-model ensemble—during the observational period (fig. 

4). Ranges of uncertainty among the SD2 models typically were much less than the 18-model ensemble 

in all months. Similarly, the range of uncertainty among the SD1 subset typically was less than its SD2 

counterpart. 

Subsetting constrained the spread of uncertainty in all months in the Bering Sea. Median ice 

extents were more or less congruent among all three ensembles, indicating that screening excluded 

GCMs that simulated too little and too much ice. A slight positive bias in median ice extent during 

spring (April–May) was evident among all ensembles (fig. 4), indicating that the models tend to 

simulate a slightly later onset of the melt season compared to observations. 

In the Chukchi Sea, the SD2 and SD1 model subsets simulated median sea ice observations 

more accurately than the 18-model ensemble, which substantially overestimated summer ice cover (fig. 

4). Evidently, the Chukchi Sea subsets tended to exclude GCMs that simulated too much ice. Model 

subsets for the Chukchi Sea were less effective in reducing the spread of uncertainty compared to the 

Bering Sea model subsets, and were least effective constraining uncertainty during periods of melt and 

freeze. 

Overall, the subsets aligned more closely with observations and contained less uncertainty 

compared to the 18-model ensemble, especially in March and September for the Bering and Chukchi 

Seas, respectively, by virtue of the methodology (fig. 4). Over the course of the century, the spread of 

uncertainty among model subsets also tended to be less than that of the full 18-model ensemble (fig. 5). 

Models that were extreme outliers during the observational period generally remained outliers when 

projected. This view is consistent with the assertion that subsetting renders a more defensible ensemble 

by excluding models that grossly misrepresent observations because biases tend to be persistent, while 

recognizing that the selected models do not necessarily guarantee accurate long-term projections. 

6 
21st Century Projections 

Mid- and late-century median sea ice projections possessed a remarkable degree of withindecade congruency irrespective of the different model ensembles and GHG forcing scenarios (fig. 6). 

With few exceptions, median sea ice projections for the Bering and Chukchi Seas produce qualitatively 

similar projections regardless of the model ensemble (SD2, SD1, or all 18 models) or forcing scenario 

(A1B or A2). One subtle exception does occur at mid-century when the A2 scenario projects slightly 

more ice cover than the A1B scenario during several months (fig. 6). Although the A2 scenario 

commonly is regarded as more ‘aggressive’ because its atmospheric CO2 concentrations are higher than 

the A1B scenario at the end of the century, the A1B scenario at mid-century has higher CO2 and 

projects slightly warmer global temperature (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007) and 

slightly less sea ice arctic wide (Meehl and others, 2007b, fig. 10.13). 

The congruency among projections from different model subsets and GHG scenarios (fig. 6) 

required simplifying the presentation of results hereafter, by focusing on just the A1B scenario because 

of its “business as usual” storyline and its prevalence in the literature, and in most cases, the SD2 subset 

because of its larger representation of GCMs. 

Figure 7 is a simplified version of figure 6 that highlights the general patterns of projected sea 

ice change in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Compared to the first decade of satellite observations, icefree conditions are projected to develop in the Bering Sea about 1 month earlier by the end of the 

century. June is projected to experience the least amount of sea ice loss among all months. During July, 

extensive areas of ice melt in the Chukchi Sea as the shelf becomes ice free for 3 or more months. The 

spatial rate of ice formation in the autumn remains fairly constant, hence complete freeze of the Chukchi 

Sea is delayed about 1 month by mid-century and 2 months by late-century. Maximum ice extent in 

March in the Bering Sea at mid-century is projected to be 23 percent less than the first decade of 

satellite observations, and 58 percent less by late-century (table 2). 

Figure 8 illustrates how subsetting affected the spread of model uncertainty in each month, 

similar to figure 3, but for projections at mid- and late-century rather than observations. In the Bering 

Sea, the subsets markedly reduced the spread in all months compared to the full 18-model ensemble. As 

might be expected, the spread of uncertainty among ice projections (fig. 8) was somewhat inflated 

compared to the observational period (fig. 4), but overall the subsetting was reasonably effective in 

culling the more extreme outliers of the full 18-model ensemble. 

Among projections of future sea ice in the Chukchi Sea, however, subsetting was less effective 

in reducing the spread of uncertainty except during the mid-summer period of minimum ice cover (fig. 

8). Although there is full agreement among the SD2 models that the Chukchi Sea will be ice free during 

August–October at the end of the century, uncertainty is prevalent during the spring and autumn months 

of extensive melt and freeze. The wide spread of uncertainty during the months of melt and freeze 

essentially reflects a disagreement among models in whether the ice-free season might last 3, 4, or 

possibly 5 months at the end of the century. 

Although the median sea ice projections for the Chukchi Sea by the SD2 and SD1 model subsets 

were substantially different than the median projected by the18 model ensemble during the 

observational period (fig. 4), the difference diminishes by mid-century and disappears by late-century 

(fig. 8). That is, although several models were excluded from the Chukchi Sea subsets because the 

models simulated too much ice, by the end of the century, median sea ice projection by the SD2 and 

SD1 model subsets were essentially equivalent to the median projected by the 18-model ensemble. 

7 
Monthly maps of observed and projected median ice edges are presented in figure 9. Median 

decadal ice edges demarcate the boundary where greater than 50 percent of the individual maps in a 

given group had ice cover greater than15 percent concentration. Group sample size is 10 years for 

observed decades, and 10 years times the number of ensemble GCMs for future decades. Caution should 

be exercised not to over interpret local-scale details of the projected ice edges because an artificial 

degree of spatial resolution was introduced when the raw GCM data were converted to a 25-km grid. 

Location of the ice edge during winter in the Bering Sea has remained relatively constant over 

the past 30 years (fig. 9). At mid-century, the ice edge is projected to be slightly north of its present 

location. At the end of the century, ice only begins to appear in the Bering Sea in January and the 

maximum winter extent in March is roughly one-half that of contemporary observations. Throughout 

the century, ice is projected to begin melting in the Bering Sea in April, with little if any ice remaining 

in May by late-century. 

June has the least amount of projected ice change, as noted above and reiterated by the ice edge 

map in figure 9. Rapid melt thereafter largely frees the Chukchi Sea shelf of ice in August by midcentury, and in July by the end of the century. The ice does not substantively reappear over the Chukchi 

Sea shelf until November at mid-century, and not until December at the end of the century. 

The qualitative characteristics of projected ice changes that are illustrated in the maps (fig. 9) are 

consistent with those that are plotted in figure 7. However, because of distinctly different 

methodological constructs, fractional changes in ice cover shown in figure 7 (that is, table 2) would not 

be precisely reproduced by calculating changes in the extent of area encompassed by the median ice 

edges. 

The number of ice-free months per year for 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century as 

projected by the 18 model ensemble and the SD2 and SD1 subsets are shown in figure 10. The ice-free 

season in the Bering Sea is projected to gradually increase from its present-day average of about 5.5 

months to a median of about 8.5 months by the end of the century, an increase of 3 months overall but 

accompanied by considerable uncertainty among the individual models. Extending the ice-free period in 

the Bering Sea by 3 months stems from a 1-month advance in melt and a 2-month delay in freeze (fig. 

7). In other words, the transition months of June and November, when the ice edge presently passes 

through the Bering Strait, are projected to shift to May and January by the end of the 21st century. 

On average, the Chukchi Sea has been ice free for 1 month per year during the past decade (fig. 

10). Subset medians project a 2-month ice-free season by mid-century and a 4-month ice-free season by 

the end of the century. Longer ice-free seasons in the Chukchi Sea are projected to be more or less 

balanced around September (fig. 7). 

The number of years per decade that are projected to be ice free for each month in the Bering 

and Chukchi Seas is shown in figures 11 and 12. In contrast to figure 10, the values used to construct 

the monthly box and whisker plots in figures 11 and 12 are the number of ice-free years within a decade, 

rather than 10-year averages of total ice-free months within a year. Figures 11 and 12 convey details not 

only about the trajectories of change, but also about the behavior of model uncertainties through time. 

8 
In the Bering Sea, November has been ice free for 6 of the past 10 years (fig. 11). Most models 

project that by mid-century, the Bering Sea will be ice free in November every year, and all models 

project that November will be ice free by 2070–2079. The Bering Sea has never experienced ice-free 

conditions in December during the past decade. The median sea ice projections by the 18 model 

ensemble and the SD2 and SD1 subsets indicate that by mid-century the Bering Sea will be ice free in 

December for 3–5 years per decade, and that most years will be ice free later in the century but with 

higher uncertainty. January in the Bering Sea retains ice cover until late in the century, after which 3–6 

years per decade are free of ice, again with considerable uncertainty among models. Nearly all models 

project that by mid-century, the Bering Sea will be persistently ice free in June, and most models project 

that May will begin to be intermittently ice free. 

Most models project that by mid-century the Chukchi Sea will be ice free in September in most 

years, and that every year will be ice free in September by 2070–2079 (fig. 12). September’s evolution 

of transitioning through a period of relatively high uncertainty among models into a period of high 

agreement recurs in August and October. In fact, the pattern underlies all months that transition toward 

ice-free conditions in both study areas (figs. 11 and 12). This signature pattern typifies a multi-model 

ensemble in which all models ultimately project the same outcome, but differ in the rate at which the 

outcome is achieved. 

Discussion 

Several studies have analyzed the CMIP3 GCM sea ice projections to investigate when the 

Arctic might first realize a summertime ice-free state under the ‘business as usual’ A1B forcing 

scenario. The studies have applied different methods to subset models or otherwise weight the full 

ensemble of models. Wang and Overland (2009) required models to simulate both mean ice extent and 

mean seasonality to within ±20 percent of observations, where seasonality was defined as the difference 

in ice extent between March and September. They concluded that the Arctic may become nearly ice free 

(< 1 million km2) in September 2037, a result similar to that of Holland and others (2006) who 

estimated that the Arctic may become nearly ice free around 2040 based on projections by the CCSM3 

model only. Zhang (2010) screened 43 model runs from 20 GCMs on their ability to emulate observed 

sea ice changes in response to increases in surface air temperature, and reported that the Arctic could 

become nearly ice free (< 1 million km2

) as early as the late 2030s (2037–2065). Rather than excluding 

models, Boe and others (2010) constrained a full ensemble of 18 GCMs by developing a regression of 

the projected mean percentage of sea ice remaining in September (during a 20-year period) as a function 

of the simulated September trend in 1979–2007. By examining the regression estimate and its 

confidence intervals at the point where they intercepted the observed trend, and iterating the analysis 

over an evolution of 20-year periods, Boe and others (2010) found that 2066–2085 is the first 20-year 

period with climatologically ice-free conditions throughout the Arctic in September. 

In contrast to the hemispheric studies described above that focused on September, this study was 

both regional and year-round in scope. Wang and Overland’s (2009) two-stage approach for defining 

GCM subsets was used here to ensure that a seasonality constraint was imposed on the specific regions 

of interest. However, the exact metrics and criteria used by Wang and Overland in their hemispheric 

study were modified for this analysis of the Bering and Chukchi Seas for two reasons. First, because the 

Bering Sea is completely ice-free during summer, and the Chukchi Sea completely ice-covered in 

winter, neither study area benefited by measuring seasonality as the difference between the annual 

maximum and minimum ice extent, because one endpoint remained constant in all years. Instead, the 

annual number of observed ice-free months was used to assess whether a given GCM reasonably 

emulated the seasonal cycle. 

9 
Second, variance thresholds were used to screen the GCMs rather than a constant tolerance of 

the observed mean (for example, ±20 percent). Using thresholds that reflected a region’s observed 

variance accommodated the highly variable summer ice conditions in the Chukchi Sea without being too 

restrictive, as well as the relatively constant winter conditions in the Bering Sea without being too 

liberal. However, even 1 standard deviation of the observed mean ice-free months in the Chukchi Sea 

included zero because ice-free conditions there have been rare until only recently. Hence, to impart a 

non-zero lower bound for the Chukchi Sea, selected GCMs also were required to simulate at least 1 icefree month during 1979–2008. The rationale was to exclude GCMs that showed no intrinsic capacity to 

generate an ice-free month in the Chukchi Sea during the observational period. Models simulating an 

unreasonably high number of ice-free months, however, were still excluded by the upper bound of the 

observed variance. 

Model subsetting or weighting is a commonly applied approach to reduce the broad spread of 

uncertainty that exists among the full suite of CMIP3 sea ice projections. Positive correlations between 

sea ice hindcasts and projections provide evidence that at least some models possess an inherent degree 

of bias. In other words, models that simulate thicker or more extensive ice typically are models that 

retain more ice in their future projections, and models that simulate thinner or less extensive ice retain 

less ice in their future projections (Boe and others, 2010; Holland and others, 2010). Boe and others 

(2010) capitalize on this correlation to constrain the high degree of uncertainty that exists among the full 

suite of CMIP3 ice projections. 

Ideally, the uncertainties within and among different GCM model runs would simply reflect 

differences stemming from the Earth’s natural climate variability. But GCM uncertainties also are 

comprised of ‘errors’ that commonly are attributed to the various ways in which different models infer 

the dynamical effects of various physical processes that occur at spatial scales finer than the GCM grid 

itself (Randall and others, 2007). This procedure is termed sub-grid scale parameterization. 

Uncertainties associated with a metric like global mean annual temperature (GMAT) may be dominated 

by the effects of sub-grid scale parameterization because GMAT expresses such a comprehensive 

integration of the entire model. However, sea ice is but one component of a GCM, and while not 

immune to the influences of sub-grid parameterizations, other sources can act to inflate the spread of 

uncertainty. One notable source rests in the different degrees of sophistication among the sea ice models 

(Zhang and Walsh, 2006). CCSM3 and HadGEM1 are recognized as relatively sophisticated models 

that generally simulate observations better than others (Gerdes and Köberle, 2007). In contrast, some 

models lack an up-to-date physical treatment of sea ice dynamics that make them candidates for lesser 

weighting or exclusion (Zhang, 2010). In this study, another source of uncertainty may have been 

introduced by using global models to examine regional sea ice, and in so doing, capturing a model’s 

local-scale bias that may have had little net effect on its global performance. 

Screening GCMs begs an irresolvable question regarding how many models should be retained 

or excluded (Tebaldi and Knutti, 2007). The desire is to remove models that so extremely misrepresent 

observations that the models can be suspected of producing unreliable projections, while at the same 

time retaining a large enough number of models to robustly represent the uncertainties associated with 

natural climate variability and sub-grid scale parameterizations. DeWeaver (2007) and Stroeve and 

others (2007) required models to simulate ice cover to within ±20 percent of the observed mean because 

the threshold imposed a reasonable constraint while retaining a sufficient sample size to argue that the 

ensemble’s range of uncertainty had not be unduly compromised. The SD2 subsets of this study retained 

10–11 models (table 1), similar to the number of models retained by the aforementioned studies. 

10 
Although the more restrictive SD1 model subset for the Bering Sea consistently reduced the spread of 

uncertainty compared to its SD2 counterpart, the reduction was less apparent for the Chukchi Sea SD1 

subset (figs. 4, 5, 8, 11, and 12). Favoring the less restrictive and hence larger SD2 subset over the SD1 

subset may be preferable to assuming that an ensemble with as few as four models (table 1) includes a 

defensible range of representative uncertainty. 

A multi-model median projection can be viewed as a collective ‘best guess’ by the models 

comprising the ensemble. Interpreting a median projection alone essentially dismisses consideration of 

the ensemble’s uncertainty. Nevertheless, a ‘best guess’ is a practical starting point to benchmark 

anticipated changes and establish a framework from which to assess ecological implications or adaptive 

capacities. Uncertainties can be assessed thereafter. Large uncertainties may prove intractable for some 

topics or questions, but the spread of uncertainty may be inconsequential for others. 

Ice-free conditions in the Chukchi Sea are attained for a 3-month period (August–October) at the 

end of the century (fig. 7) with almost complete agreement among models of the SD2 subset (fig. 12). 

Consequently, a higher degree of confidence can accompany hypotheses or decisions premised on this 

outcome and timeframe. Greater confidence also accompanies the projection that the Chukchi Sea will 

be completely ice covered at the end of the century during February–April (fig. 8). However, large 

uncertainties are prevalent during the intervening melt and freeze seasons; most notably in June, 

November, and December. Part of this large uncertainty might stem from larger natural variability 

associated with a vast area like the Chukchi Sea cycling between an ice-covered and ice-free state. 

Satellite observations of the Chukchi Sea provide empirical evidence that higher variability 

accompanies higher fluxes in ice cover; especially during the months of peak melt and freeze (fig. 3). 

Because the entire Arctic is projected to oscillate between an ice-free and ice-covered state before the 

end of the century (Boe and others, 2010), interannual variability in the timing and extent of partial ice 

cover in the Chukchi Sea might be expected to increase in the coming decades (Goosse and others, 

2009). 

Stroeve and others (2007) revealed that none or very few of the individual CMIP3 GCM 

simulations showed declining sea ice trends that were comparable to observations. Since Stroeve’s 

publication, minimum ice extents for the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009 have been well below the 

previous 2005 record, further substantiating that the observed rate of sea ice decline is progressing 

‘faster than forecasted’. After intermittently losing unusually large amounts of multiyear sea ice during 

the past 2 decades (Rigor and others, 2002; Nghiem and others, 2007; Zhang and others, 2008; Ogi and 

others, 2010), the Arctic’s pack ice is now thinner (Yu and others, 2004; Kwok and others, 2009), 

younger (Rigor and Wallace, 2004; Belchansky and others, 2005; Maslanik and others, 2007), and more 

vulnerable to longer summer melt seasons (Belchansky and others, 2004; Markus and others, 2009) and 

positive feedbacks (Perovich and others, 2007). The present condition of Arctic sea ice and its steep rate 

of decline warrant serious consideration to the possibility that the CMIP3 GCM projections collectively 

portray 21st century sea ice losses on a conservative time frame. 

As a new generation of GCM projections are prepared for the IPCC’s fifth assessment, it should 

be recognized that a high degree of uncertainty among models will likely persist. Some models will be 

improved by attaining higher spatial resolution, but the uncertainties of sub-grid scale parameterization 

will not be resolved. Some models will strive to elaborate dynamics of the carbon cycle and terrestrial 

landcover change that will, in turn, introduce new sources of uncertainty. In practice, and by construct, 

GMCs will continue to possess uncertainty. Nevertheless, GCMs provide a state-of-the-art and practical 

starting point to benchmark anticipated changes and establish a framework from which to assess 

ecological implications or adaptive capacities, including assessments of both the benefits and costs 

associated with taking or not taking measures to constrain future greenhouse gas emissions. 

11 
Conclusions 

This report presents a detailed examination of future sea ice conditions in the Bering and 

Chukchi Seas based on projections by 18 GCMs from the CMIP3 multi-model dataset. All GCMs 

project reductions in ice cover during the 21st century when forced with either of two unmitigated 

greenhouse gas emission scenarios (A1B and A2), but the magnitude of change varies widely among the 

full ensemble of models. The spread of projected uncertainty is substantially reduced among models that 

more reasonably simulate the past 30 years of sea ice observations. However, regardless of the emission 

scenario or ensemble of models, multi-model median ice projections are remarkably similar at midcentury, and even more so at the end of the century. 

There is high agreement among models that the shelf waters of the Chukchi Sea will be ice-free 

for at least 3 months (August–October) by mid-century. By the end of the century, and with somewhat 

less agreement among models, the Chukchi Sea shelf could be ice free (or nearly ice free) for as many 

as 4–5 months. Projections of sea ice loss in June are relatively modest, so extensive areas of ice are 

projected to rapidly melt in July in order to achieve an ice-free state by August. There is a large spread 

of uncertainty with respect to the chronology of autumn freeze in the Chukchi Sea, but all models 

concur that the Chukchi Sea will continue to be entirely ice-covered during February, March, and April 

throughout the 21st century. 

June is projected to be persistently ice free in the Bering Sea by mid-century, at which time most 

models project that May will begin to intermittently experience ice-free years. By the end of the century, 

delayed freeze in the Chukchi Sea lengthens the ice-free season in the Bering Sea by about 3 months 

overall—a 1-month advance in melt and a 2-month delay in freeze. Presently, the ice edge retreats and 

advances through the Bering Strait in June and November, but by the end of the century, these transition 

months are projected to shift to May and January. Maximum ice extent in the Bering Sea continues to be 

attained in March but the projected magnitude of cover varies substantially between individual models. 

Multi-model median projections among all ensembles, however, consistently project about a 25-percent 

reduction in March ice extent by mid-century and a 60-percent reduction by the end of the century, 

compared to the earliest decade of satellite observations (1979–1988). 

Assuming robustness in the unmitigated GHG emission scenarios that were used to force the 

models, and robustness in the CMIP3 models themselves, there is a high degree of certainty that by the 

end of the century, the Chukchi Sea will be ice free for several months during the summer, and that the 

ice-free season in Bering Sea will be extended by several months. The breadth of uncertainty among the 

model projections essentially rests in their subtle but different outcomes of precisely how many months 

will be ice free, which in turn affects their rates of projected change during the melt and freeze seasons. 

Acknowledgments 

This study was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide science support to the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and to address science objectives underlying the USGS Alaska Science 

Center’s research on global climate change and changing Arctic ecosystems. Suggestions and critiques 

by J. Overland, M. Wang, and E. DeWeaver greatly improved the scope and content of this report. The 

modeling groups, the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison, and the World 

Climate Research Program's Working Group on Coupled Modelling are acknowledged for their roles in 

making available the CMIP3 multi-model dataset. Support of the CMIP3 dataset is provided by the 

Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy. 

12 
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16 
Figure 1. Extent of the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea study areas (green shade), spanning shelf waters greater than 

–150 meters deep and bounded longitudinally by the distribution of the Pacific walrus population. The two study 

areas are divided by the Bering Strait. The Chukchi and Bering Seas are located between North America and 

Eurasia (inset).

17 
Figure 2. Box and whisker notation used in this report. 

18 
Figure 3. Monthly proportional extent of ice in the Bering Sea and open water in the Chukchi Sea, during the 

earliest and most recent decades of the satellite data record. Hatched area highlights the recent decline of summer 

ice in the Chukchi Sea in contrast to the relatively constant extent of winter ice in the Bering Sea. Box-and-whisker 

plots are constructed from the 10 years of observations within a respective decade. 

19 
Figure 4. Monthly proportional ice extent in the Bering Sea and open water in the Chukchi Sea, simulated by 18 

GCMs and 2 GCM subsets, and as observed by satellite during 1979–2008. GCM simulations for the late 20th 

century used the 20C3M forcing scenario and A1B forcing scenario for the early years of the 21st century. Boxand-whisker plots are constructed from the 30-year averages of each model in the respective model ensemble 

(table 1). Lines join observed means and multi-model medians. Box and whiskers are slightly offset left and right of 

the monthly tics for legibility. 

20 
Figure 5. Late 20th century simulations and 21st century projections of March ice cover and total annual ice-free 

months in the Bering Sea, and September ice cover and total annual ice-free months in the Chukchi Sea, by 18 

GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets with the A1B forced scenario. GCMs from the SD1 subset are plotted with red 

lines, and the additional GCMs that comprise the SD2 subset are plotted with yellow lines (that is, SD2 = red and 

yellow lines). Rejected GCMs are plotted with gray dotted lines. Multi-model averages are plotted as bold lines, and 

the average of all 18 models as a bold gray line. Satellite observations are black lines. All lines depict 10-year 

centered moving averages. 

21 
Figure 6. Projected sea ice extent in the combined Bering and Chukchi Seas during the mid- and late 21st 

century by 18 CMIP3 general circulation models (G18), and 2 selected model subsets (SD2 and SD1). 

Projections are shown for each of two greenhouse gas forcing scenarios (A1B and A2). Plotted are monthly 

multi-model medians derived from the average decadal ice extents of the respective ensemble models. 

Horizontal dotted line approximates the Bering Strait transition zone. Observed ice extents during early and 

recent decades of satellite observations are shown to benchmark recent and projected change. January and 

February are repeated on the x-axis to add visual continuity to the full annual cycle. 

22 
Figure 7. General patterns of projected sea ice changes in the combined Bering and Chukchi Seas (adapted from 

figure 6). Vertical arrows highlight magnitudes of projected declines in ice extent between the early decade of 

observations to mid-century, and mid- to late-century. Inclined arrows highlight projected increases in the area of 

early summer ice melt, and horizontal arrows highlight projected delays in complete freeze of the Chukchi Sea. 

Horizontal dotted line approximates the Bering Strait transition zone. 

23 
 

Figure 8. Projected monthly proportional ice extent in the Bering Sea, and open water in the Chukchi Sea during 

the mid- and last decades of the 21st century by 18 GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets with the A1B forced 

scenario. Two decades of satellite observations are shown to benchmark recent and projected change. Box-andwhisker plots were constructed from the decadal averages of each model in the respective ensemble. Lines join 

observed means and multi-model medians. Box and whiskers are slightly offset left and right of the monthly tics for 

legibility. 

24 
Figure 9. Monthly location of projected median sea ice edges at mid- (yellow) and late (red) century based on A1B 

forcing scenario and the Bering Sea SD2 subset in December–May and the Chukchi Sea SD2 subset in June–

November. The observed median ice edge for 1979–1988 (white) and 1999–2008 (green) are shown to benchmark 

recent and projected change. Median ice edges demarcate where greater than 50 percent of the years (for 

observations) or models × years (for projections) were covered by ice with greater than15 percent concentration. 

25 
Figure 9.— Continued. 

The projected median ice edge during August and September of 2090–2099 occurs north of this map extent. 

26 
Figure 10. Number of ice-free months per year for 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century, projected by 18 

GCMs and 2 selected GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1). GCM projections are based on the A1B forced scenario. The 

most recent decadal average from satellite observations is shown to benchmark projected changes (blue dot with 

extended reference line). Box-and-whisker plots were constructed from the decadal averages of each model in the 

respective ensemble. 

27 
Figure 11. Number of years per decade projected to be ice-free in the Bering Sea by 18 GCMs and 2 selected 

GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1), for each month, during each of 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century. GCM 

projections are based on the A1B forced scenario. The recent decade of satellite observations (blue dot and 

extended reference line) is shown to benchmark projected change. Box-and-whisker plots are constructed from the 

total number of ice free years (max = 10) projected by each model in the ensemble for the respective month and 

decade. July–October were predominantly ice-free and not shown. 

28 
Figure 12. Number of years per decade projected to be ice-free in the Chukchi Sea by 18 GCMs and 2 selected 

GCM subsets (SD2 and SD1), for each month, during each of 5 decadal periods spanning the 21st century. GCM 

projections are based on the A1B scenario. The recent decade of satellite observations (blue dot and extended 

reference line) is shown to benchmark projected change. Box-and-whisker plots are constructed from the total 

number of ice-free years (max = 10) projected by each model in the ensemble for the respective month and 

decade. January–April were predominantly ice-covered and not shown. 

29 
Table 1. General circulation models used in this study and their status 

in each of two model subsets for the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea 

study areas. 

[Models were selected when both their mean ice extent and seasonality 

during 1979–2008 were respectively within 2 standard deviations (SD2) 

and 1 standard deviation (SD1) of the observed means. For the Chukchi 

Sea, GCMs included in a subset also were required to simulate at least 

1 ice-free month during the 30-year period] 

Country CMIP3 GCM ID Bering Sea Chukchi Sea

SD2 SD1 SD2 SD1 

Norway BCCR-BCM2.0 

USA CCSM3 X X X 

Canada CGCM3.1(T47) 

France CNRM-CM3 X X 

Australia CSIRO-Mk3.0 

Australia CSIRO-Mk3.5 X X 

Germany ECHAM5/MPI-OM X 

Germany ECHO-G X X 

USA GFDL-CM2.1 X X X 

USA GFDL-CM2.0 X X X 

USA GISS-ER X X 

Italy INGV-SXG X 

Russia INM-CM3.0 X 

France IPSL-CM4 X X 

Japan MIROC3.2(medres) X X X 

Japan MRI-CGCM2.3.2 X 

UK UKMO-HadCM3 X X X 

UK UKMO-HadGEM1 X X 

TOTAL 11 4 10 6 

30 
Table 2. Percentage of change in the monthly proportion of sea ice extent in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea 

study areas between the earliest decade of satellite observations (1979–1988) and two future decades (2045–2054 

and 2090–2099), and similarly for the most recent decade of observations (1999–2008). 

[Sea ice projections are based on medians of monthly decadal averages for each GCM in the SD2 subset using the A1B 

forced scenario] 

OBSERVED DECADE 1979–1988 1999–2008 

PROJECTED DECADE 2045–2054 2090–2099 2045–2054 2090–2099 

BERING SEA

JAN -38 % -62 % -46 % -67 % 

FEB -30 % -62 % -30 % -61 % 

MAR -23 % -58 % -18 % -55 % 

APR -24 % -57 % -24 % -57 % 

MAY -32 % -78 % -29 % -77 % 

JUNE -63 % -88 % -55 % -86 % 

JULY 

AUG 

SEPT 

OCT 

NOV -88 % -100 % -83 % -100 % 

DEC -37 % -94 % -38 % -94 % 

CHUKCHI SEA 

JAN -1 % -8 % -1 % -8 % 

FEB 0 % 0 % 0 % 0 % 

MAR 0 % 0 % 0 % 0 % 

APR 0 % 0 % 0 % 0 % 

MAY -1 % -3 % -1 % -3 % 

JUNE -8 % -23 % 0 % -16 % 

JULY -27 % -79 % -9 % -74 % 

AUG -85 % -99 % -69 % -99 % 

SEPT -95 % -100 % -83 % -100 % 

OCT -87 % -100 % -74 % -100 % 

NOV -46 % -91 % -35 % -90 % 

DEC -9 % -49 % -9 % -49 % 

31 
32 

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Douglas— Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Projected Changes in Timing and Extent of Sea Ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas—Open-File Report 2010–1176