Multidisciplinary research on biogenically driven new particle formation in Svalbard

This is chapter 7 of the State of Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) report 2019 (https://sios-svalbard.org/SESS_Issue2).

Climate change in the Arctic is reflected in decreased snow cover, thawing permafrost, increased productivity on land, and especially loss of sea ice. The latter accelerates climate warming and further sea ice decline. However, it may also increase phytoplankton productivity, thus increasing concentrations of cloud “seeds”, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which in turn largely determine how clouds interact with light and affect Earth’s energy balance. Therefore, change in CCN concentration may speed up or slow down climate warming in the Arctic. However, the mechanisms leading to CCN production over ice-covered and open Arctic waters are not known in detail. In addition, increasing emissions of vapours from plants and animals as a result of increased primary production on land may affect natural CCN production.