International audienceAntarctic krill Euphausia superba (hereafter `krill') occur in regions undergoing rapid environmental change, particularly loss of winter sea ice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has in creased, possibly enhancing stress on krill and Antarctic ecosystems. Here we review the overall impact of climate change on krill and Antarctic ecosystems, discuss implications for an ecosystem-based fisheries management approach and identify critical knowledge gaps. Sea ice decline, ocean warming and other environmental stressors act in concert to modify the abundance, distribution and life cycle of krill. Although some of these changes can have positive effects on krill, their cumulative impact is most likely negative. Recruitment, driven largely by the winter survival of larval krill, is probably the population parameter most susceptible to climate change. Predicting changes to krill populations is urgent, because they will seriously impact Antarctic ecosystems. Such predictions, however, are complicated by an intense inter-annual variability in recruitment success and krill abundance. To improve the responsiveness of the ecosystem-based management approach adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), critical knowledge gaps need to be filled. In addition to a better understanding of the factors influencing recruitment, management will require a better understanding of the resilience and the genetic plasticity of krill life stages, and a quantitative understanding of under-ice and benthic habitat use. Current precautionary management measures of CCAMLR should be maintained until a better understanding of these processes has been achieved. [GRAPHICS]

The Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) has been collecting data over the oceans since November 2006. Over 80 cruises were completed through early 2010 with deployments continuing. Measurement areas included various parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern and Southern Pacific Ocean, the South Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and inland seas. MAN deploys Microtops hand-held sunphotometers and utilizes a calibration procedure and data processing traceable to AERONET. Data collection included areas that previously had no aerosol optical depth (AOD) coverage at all, particularly vast areas of the Southern Ocean. The MAN data archive provides a valuable resource for aerosol studies in maritime environments. In the current paper we present results of AOD measurements over the oceans, and make a comparison with satellite AOD retrievals and model simulations.

The quasi-stationary asymmetry of total ozone over Antarctica during spring is studied by TOMS data during the period 1979–2005. Statistics on the amplitude and longitudinal position of zonal anomalies are obtained from the distribution of total ozone along seven individual latitudes at 5-degree intervals between 50° S and 80° S. As shown by the September-November means, the mid-latitude collar of ozone-rich stratospheric air has a sub-Antarctic maximum with a mean location in the quadrant 90° E–180° E and a total ozone level of about 380 DU between 50° S and 60° S. The steady displacement and elongation of the ozone hole under the influence of planetary waves causes a zonal anomaly of low ozone in the sector 0°–60° W with total ozone levels of about 200 DU between 70° S and 80° S. Climatologically, the highest amplitude of the zonal anomaly is 57.2±13.5 DU (relative asymmetry of 32% between high and low ozone levels) at 65° S latitude. A significant eastward shift of approximately 45° in longitude is observed in the total ozone minimum over the Weddell Sea – South Atlantic sector during 1979–2005, whereas the zonal maximum is relatively stable in location. Also apparent is a long-term shift in tropopause temperature distribution in the region. The geographical distribution of the zonal extremes in total ozone for the seven latitudes shows that (i) the extremes exhibit sensitivity to the shape of the Antarctic continent, (ii) the stationarity of the extremes increases poleward above the edge of continent and (iii) the positions of the extremes at the higher latitudes tend to follow the meridionally oriented elements of orography. It is suggested that the radiative influence of Antarctica contributes to the formation of this pattern. Anomalies in the horizontal structure of the tropopause, which appear related to orography, support this view. Mechanisms involved in the formation and decadal change in the total ozone asymmetry, as well as possible influences of the asymmetry on the stratospheric thermal regimes and regional UV irradiance redistribution are discussed.