Evolution of Atmospheric Oxygen

changes in sea ice thickness and the relative amounts of open water on surface air temperatures through the year. Figure 2 shows that the impact on the surface air temperatures is rather small during the summer; however, during the winter, when there is a large difference between the surface temperature of ocean water and of sea ice, the impact of small changes in the area of open ocean on surface air temperature is large. When areas of open ocean are eliminated, during the winter, the atmosphere is cut off from a heat source, namely the relatively warm ocean, and surface air temperatures drop by between 0.4K and 1.2K during the winter. When areas of open ocean are increased during the winter, the atmosphere is in contact with an expanded heat source, and surface air temperatures increase by up to 2.0Kwhen sea ice is allowed to form, and much more when it is not. The use of energy balance models in this kind of study permit further investigation to identify which energy fluxes contribute to the simulated changes in surface air temperature and under what conditions each energy flux is the most important.