The variability of the ice volume flux into the northeast Atlantic is investigated with an optimized dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice model using 40 years (1958--1997) of atmospheric forcing fields derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis project. The simulated sea ice export from the Arctic exhibits considerable interannual to decadal variability and is primarily a linear response to sea level pressure anomalies over Greenland and over the Barents and Kara Seas. Our model results suggest that ice export anomalies such as in 1968 which supposedly caused the so-called Great Salinity Anomaly in the northern North Atlantic are not unique but rather frequent events as part of the variability of the Arctic climate system. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union