How strong is influence of the tropics and midlatitudes on the Arctic atmospheric circulation and climate change?

Relaxation experiments with the atmosphere model from European Centre for Medium‐range Weather Forecasts are analyzed to understand influence of lower latitudes (south of about 52 °N) on climate variability and change over the Arctic region. Interannual variability of the Arctic troposphere is impacted strongly by both the tropics and the midlatitudes. In general, the link in winter is stronger than that in summer. Furthermore, the tropics and midlatitudes have different preferred pathways by which they influence the Arctic. Trend analysis suggests that winter surface warming trends over the Arctic are driven strongly by the local sea ice‐atmospheric interaction. Warming at higher altitudes is strongly tied to remote non‐Arctic drivers, with some local amplification. Summer warming trends in northeastern Canada and Greenland are driven strongly by sea surface temperature/sea ice changes and partly by the tropics. The summer warming in northern Europe and western Russia is more strongly driven by the midlatitudes.