CLIMATE LESSONS FROM THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR* BY KEVIN R. WOOD AND JAMES E. OVERLAND Evidence of a strong North Atlantic Oscillation signature in surface observations from 1882-83 highlights the impact of large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns in Arctic climate variability, both today and in the past. hat a notable climate change has taken place and where the present warming trend first began in the Arctic in the years since the first is uncertain, and what the underlying causes are is TInternational Polar Year (IPY) in 1882-83 is not completely understood. Furthermore, warming beyond dispute. Evidence of the impacts of climate through the twentieth century was not a continuous change is widespread. Northern seas have become process, but apparently occurred in two intervals with warmer and the extent of sea ice has diminished. a cooler interlude between them (Jones and Moberg Glaciers have declined. Permafrost has thawed, lead- 2003). Scientists in the 1920s were quick to note the ing to the long-lasting transformation of ecosystems. onset of the first warming interval, which lasted into the Biogeographical boundaries have shifted northward 1940s and was especially pronounced in some regions as Arctic ecosystems have gradually been trans- of the Arctic (Ahlmann 1948). A large degree of natural formed into more sub-Arctic ones (ACIA 2005). variability; feedback mechanisms related to albedo While many of the effects related to climate varia- and other radiative processes; and external forcing, tion have been described over the last 100 years, when such as a change in carbon dioxide and methane, an increase in insolation, or a decrease in volcanism, have all potentially contributed to Arctic warming, but AFFILIATIONS: WOOD—Joint Institute for the Study of the with uncertain and variable relative importance and Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, unknown interactions (Overland 2006). Washington; OVERLAND—NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington One approach to understanding Arctic climate *Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Contribution Number change is to look more deeply into the history of explo- 2870 ration in the region, to a time before the present era of CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Kevin R. Wood, Joint Institute for warming commenced, for previously unutilized obser- the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washing- vations. While there is a rich library of work containing ton, Seattle, WA 98195 the accounts of hundreds of individual voyages of dis- E-mail: [email protected] covery going back to the sixteenth century, the first op- The abstract for this article can be found in this issue, following the portunity to study the circumpolar Arctic environment table of contents. in a synoptic sense is found in the data and observations DOIilO.I I75/BAMS-87-I2-I685 recorded during the first IPY in 1882-83. A map show- In final form 5 July 2006 ing the locations of 12 principal and 13 auxiliary IPY sta- ©2006 American Meteorological Society tions is given in Fig. 1, along with a picture of each prin- AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY DECEMBER 2006 BAPIS* I 1685 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 12:09 PM UTC FIG. I. (a) Map showing the locations of the 12 principal re- search stations established in the Arctic during the first IPY. Observations were also col- lected in at least 13 auxiliary locations that are shown here, (b) Twelve Arctic research sta- tions were established during the first IPY. More than 700 men incurred the dangers of Arctic service to establish and relieve these stations be- tween 1881 and 1884. Photo of Fort Rae (date unknown: University of Alberta 2006, Julian Arthur Mills Fonds item number 78-45-165, available online at www.ualberta.ca/ ARCHIVES/). 1686 | BAflS- DECEMBER 2006 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 12:09 PM UTC cipal station. The IPY was the first coordinated series of expeditions dedicated to sci- entific research dispatched into the Arctic with the ex- press purpose of collecting synoptic meteorological and geophysical observations. These observations were also the first to be collected on the basis of a clearly defined sampling protocol and to use similar high-quality and well-calibrated instruments. The data were successfully gathered and published, but due to organizational short- comings after the conclusion of the field program they were never systematically analyzed. In 2007 the next Inter- national Polar Year will begin, 130 years after Carl Weyprecht first proposed that nations join together to conduct cooperative research FIG. 2. (top) Meteorological instruments at Cap Thordsen, Spitzbergen. in the polar regions. Like its (bottom) The wild pattern thermometer screen shown here was standard at all IPY stations except for the U.S. stations at Lady Franklin Bay and Point antecedents, the first and Barrow, SAT (black) and SLP (red) recorded at this station. the second IPY (1932-33) and the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), IPY daily mean surface air temperature (SAT), sea level pres- 2007-08 will seek new understanding of the Earth's en- sure (SLP) (Fig. 2), and 6-hourly winds. Meteorological vironment through an intensive, coordinated campaign data from the first IPY and an extensive documentary of polar observations and analysis (National Research image collection are available online (www.arctic.noaa. Council 2004). The next IPY will use much more ad- gov/aro/ipy-l). vanced and safer methods of conducting research, such Using this material, along with other physical as autonomous observing systems, for example, but the observations recorded at the time, we are able to principles and the spirit of scientific inquiry in the harsh describe the meteorological conditions and related polar regions remain in many ways identical to those seasonal events that occurred in 1882-83. With of the first IPY (see information online at www.us-ipy. the benefit of additional data obtained at these and org/ and www.ipy.org). One of the primary scientific nearby locations in subsequent years we can com- objectives is to place the climate changes currently un- pare the IPY observations with recent SAT and SLP folding in the Arctic within the context of the past in observations. In light of the relationship between the order to distinguish the relative contribution of natural atmospheric circulation and SAT anomaly patterns and anthropogenic variability. in the Northern Hemisphere, we investigate the cor- We present for the first time an analysis of the synop- relation between SAT and SLP observed during the tic meteorological observations recorded during the first first IPY and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) IPY. From the original reports1 published between 1885 index, a measure of the strength of atmospheric cir- and 1910 we have extracted and digitized monthly and culation based on the difference of normalized SLP 1 The original reports from which data were extracted are Dawson 1886; Ekholm 1887; Greely 1888; Lemstrom and Biese, Eds., 1886; Lenz, Ed. 1886a; Lenz, Ed. 1886b; Neumayer and Borgen, Eds., 1886; Paulson 1889; Ray 1885; Snellen and Ekama 1910; Steen 1887; von Wohlgemuth 1886. AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY DECEMBER 2006 BAflS* | 1687 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 12:09 PM UTC between Ponta Delgada, Azores, and Stykkisholmur/ product of simultaneous observations. "The entire Reykjavik, Iceland (Hurrell 1995). The NAO can also Meteorology of our day rests upon comparison," he be interpreted as a regional expression of the more said, "all the successes of which it can boast—the hemispheric-scale Northern Annular Mode (NAM) laws of storms, the theories of winds—are results of (Ostermeier and Wallace 2003). Before turning to synchronous observations." Meteorological constants the particulars of the meteorological analysis it is revealed the average conditions in different places, but appropriate to review the origin and scientific objec- were not useful in understanding the physical laws tives of the first IPY. that governed changes in those conditions. "They can answer the how," he said, "but are rarely equal to the WEYPRECHT'S INSPIRATION. A decade be why" (Weyprecht 1875c). Weyprecht worked for six fore the first IPY, Carl Weyprecht years, until his untimely death (Fig. 3) realized that solutions at age 43 from tuberculosis, to to the fundamental problems of launch the set of cooperative global meteorology and geophysics international expeditions with were to be sought near the Earth s a primary mission to collect the poles, and that decisive results synoptic observations that he would only be obtained through hoped would begin to reveal the a series of coordinated scientific fundamental physical laws of the expeditions (Weyprecht 1875a). Earth and its atmosphere. Weyprecht's inspiration came from his experience as a scientist SO EXTENSIVE AND DAN- and co-commander of the Austro- GEROUS A WORK. Eleven Hungarian Polar Expedition of nations established 14 principal 1872-74 (Baker 1982). Thousands research stations, with 12 in the of scientific observations were Arctic and 2 in the sub-Antarctic. recorded during this expedition, The first two were established but the information thus amassed in the autumn of 1881 by the was of limited use. Weyprecht United States, at Lady Franklin observed, Bay, Ellesmere Island, and Point Barrow, Alaska. The remaining 12 FIG. 3. C. Weyprecht (1838-81) But whatever interest all these (Annals of the International stations were active by the autumn observations may possess, they Geophysical Year 1959). of 1882 (Fig. lb). The designated do not possess that scientific period for the international pro- value, even supported by a long column of figures, gram was from 1 August 1882 through 1 September which under other circumstances might have been 1883, but participants were encouraged to obtain an the case. They only furnish us with a picture of the additional year of observations if possible. The United extreme effects of the forces of Nature in the Arctic States began work a year early, and Russia and Finland regions, but leave us completely in the dark with both extended their activities for an additional year, respect to their causes (Weyprecht 1875b).