The Arctic as a "Heat Sink"

The Arctic plays a key role in the earth's heat balance by acting as a "heat sink." The global earth-atmosphere system gains heat from incoming solar radiation, and returns heat to space by thermal radiation. Most of the heat gain occurs in low latitudes, and this gain is balanced (on average) by heat loss that takes place at latitudes north and south of about 40 degrees. Therefore the Arctic is said to act as a "heat sink" for energy that is transported from lower latitudes by ocean currents and by atmospheric circulation systems.

Heat is transported to the Arctic primarily in the following ways: