{"id":14475,"date":"2019-12-10T19:20:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T19:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/10\/professor-karen-frey-contributes-to-14th-annual-arctic-report-card\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:50:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:50:51","slug":"professor-karen-frey-contributes-to-14th-annual-arctic-report-card","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/10\/professor-karen-frey-contributes-to-14th-annual-arctic-report-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Karen Frey contributes to 14th annual Arctic Report Card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Polar scientist finds that decline in sea ice threatens ecosystems<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n Onboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier<\/em> on the Bering Sea in July 2019, Geography Professor Karen Frey deploys instruments that measure the transmittance of light through seawater. Photo by Lee Cooper<\/em>\n

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The year 2019 was a solemn one for whales, seabirds and ice seals in the Bering Sea, and unfortunately, Clark University polar scientist Karen Frey<\/a> predicts the future looks bleaker for these sea dwellers and the human indigenous communities that depend upon them as our waters continue to warm, threatening our marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\"Onboard
Onboard the CCCS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Professor Karen Frey waits to deploy her instruments into the Bering Sea. Photo by Shea Wyatt<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frey, who is an associate professor and associate director of Clark’s Graduate School of Geography<\/a>, is lead author of “Arctic Ocean Primary Productivity: The response of marine algae to climate warming and sea ice decline,”<\/a> a chapter in the 14th annual Arctic Report Card<\/a> released today by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> (NOAA) at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.  Compiled by 81 scientists from 12 nations, the 2019 report recounts the many ways that climate change has continued to disrupt the Arctic over the past year, with near-record high air and ocean temperatures, massive melting of the Greenland ice sheet, record low sea-ice extents, and major shifts in the distribution of commercially valuable marine species.<\/p>\n

“The vast majority of the Arctic Ocean has experienced clear, long-term trends of warming over the past several decades, leading to declining sea ice and increased marine plant growth,” said Professor Frey. “The Bering Sea, in particular, has experienced unprecedented declines in sea ice over the last two years, with resulting changes in algae growth to include observations of the presence of harmful algal blooms.”<\/p>\n

Some key findings from Frey’s research include: <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n