| Abstrakt: |
Climate change is projected to cause the Arctic soundscape to become noisier due to sea ice loss and increased anthropogenic activity. Many studies on underwater sound levels have been conducted in the western North American Arctic and Fram Strait, but the rest of the Arctic is full of geographic gaps. Han et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl093097) published a study in Geophysical Research Letters on underwater sound levels in the East Siberian Sea, providing the first estimates of seasonal trends and the natural and anthropogenic drivers of underwater sound levels in this region. This is an excellent first step in filling geographic gaps in the Russian Arctic, and I call on other researchers to continue to fill these geographic gaps throughout the Arctic so that we can set a baseline and study changes to underwater sound levels being caused directly and indirectly by climate change. Plain Language Summary: The Arctic marine environment can be one of the quietest on Earth, particularly under solid sea ice. Climate change is causing sea ice to melt at an alarming rate and is also allowing increased human shipping activity. Both sea ice loss and increased shipping activity will likely lead to a noisier environment underwater in the Arctic. Many studies have examined how loud the underwater environment is in the Arctic of western North America and between East Greenland and Svalbard, but there are many areas throughout the Arctic with no studies. Han et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl093097) just published the first study on the loudness of the underwater environment in the East Siberian Sea. This study fills an important gap in our knowledge, and I call on other researchers to continue expanding studies into areas of the Arctic where we have no data on underwater sound levels. More studies will help us track the changes in underwater sound levels being caused by climate change. Key Points: Han et al. (2021) published a study in Geophysical Research Letters on underwater sound levels in the East Siberian SeaI place this study in the context of broader effort to establish baselines of underwater sound levels in the ArcticI call on researchers to continue filling geographic gaps in studies of underwater sound levels, particularly in the Russian Arctic [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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