This
report discusses our
current understanding of the mechanisms that link declines in Arctic sea ice cover, loss of high - latitude
snow cover, changes in Arctic - region energy fluxes, atmospheric circulation patterns, and the occurrence of extreme weather events; possible implications of more severe loss of summer Arctic sea ice upon weather patterns at lower latitudes; major gaps in our understanding, and observational and / or modeling efforts that are needed to fill those gaps; and
current opportunities and limitations for using Arctic sea ice predictions to assess the risk of temperature / precipitation anomalies and extreme weather events over northern continents.
North America, Europe and Asia have all seen a trend toward less
snow cover between 1960 and 2015, according to 2016 research published in the journal
Current Climate Change
Reports.