Extreme wind events responsible for an outsized role in shelf-basin exchange around the southern tip of Greenland.

The coastal circulation around Southern Greenland transports fresh, buoyant water masses from the Arctic and Greenland Ice Sheet near regions of convection, sinking, and deep-water formation in the Irminger and Labrador Seas. Here, we track the pathways and fate of these fresh water masses by initializing synthetic particles in the East Greenland Coastal Current on the Southeast Greenland shelf and running them through altimetry-derived surface currents from 1993 to 2021. We report that the majority of waters (83%) remain on the shelf around the southern tip of Greenland.

Future strengthening of the Nordic Seas overturning circulation.

The overturning circulation in the Nordic Seas involves the transformation of warm Atlantic waters into cold, dense overflows. These overflow waters return to the North Atlantic and form the headwaters to the deep limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The Nordic Seas are thus a key component of the AMOC.

Sea-ice retreat suggests re-organization of water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas.

Water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas, triggered by air-sea heat fluxes, is an integral component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These regions are undergoing rapid warming, associated with a retreat in ice cover. Here we present an analysis covering 1950-2020 of the spatiotemporal variability of the air-sea heat fluxes along the region's boundary currents, where water mass transformation impacts are large.

The Iceland-Faroe Slope Jet: a conduit for dense water toward the Faroe Bank Channel overflow.

Dense water from the Nordic Seas passes through the Faroe Bank Channel and supplies the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a critical component of the climate system. Yet, the upstream pathways of this water are not fully known. Here we present evidence of a previously unrecognised deep current following the slope from Iceland toward the Faroe Bank Channel using high-resolution, synoptic shipboard observations and long-term measurements north of the Faroe Islands.

Attuning to a changing ocean.

The ocean is a lifeline for human existence, but current practices risk severely undermining ocean sustainability. Present and future social-ecological challenges necessitate the maintenance and development of knowledge and action by stimulating collaboration among scientists and between science, policy, and practice. Here we explore not only how such collaborations have developed in the Nordic countries and adjacent seas but also how knowledge from these regions contributes to an understanding of how to obtain a sustainable ocean.