Focus on Arctic amplification

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change has a disproportionate effect on the Arctic, with the Arctic warming at approximately 2–4 times the rate of the global average, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. The greater rate of warming in the Arctic is not only having profound local effects on ecosystems and Indigenous and other communities in the far North, but may also be causing remote effects on weather and climate at lower latitudes. While much has been learned about the climate feedbacks that drive Arctic amplification in response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, there remain outstanding questions about the evolution of and interactions between climate feedbacks, the relative roles of different climate forcings and feedbacks and local versus remote processes. This focus collection includes 17 articles which contribute novel research findings on (1) the mechanisms driving Arctic amplification with new insights into the time-dependent nature of Arctic amplification and feedback interactions, (2) Arctic amplification across a wide range of CO 2 and non-CO 2 forcings and (3) new approaches to assessing the climate response of amplified Arctic warming and the role of sea ice loss.