Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves
Recent warm atmospheric conditions have damaged the ice shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula through surface melt and hydrofracturing and could potentially initiate future collapse of other Antarctic ice shelves. However, model projections with similar greenhouse gas scenarios suggest large difference...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc97062 2023-05-15T14:02:18+02:00 Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves Kittel, Christoph Amory, Charles Hofer, Stefan Agosta, Cécile Jourdain, Nicolas C. Gilbert, Ella Toumelin, Louis Vignon, Étienne Gallée, Hubert Fettweis, Xavier 2022-07-07 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2655/2022/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2655/2022/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2022 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 2022-07-11T16:22:42Z Recent warm atmospheric conditions have damaged the ice shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula through surface melt and hydrofracturing and could potentially initiate future collapse of other Antarctic ice shelves. However, model projections with similar greenhouse gas scenarios suggest large differences in cumulative 21st-century surface melting. So far it remains unclear whether these differences are due to variations in warming rates in individual models or whether local feedback mechanisms of the surface energy budget could also play a notable role. Here we use the polar-oriented regional climate model MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional) to study the physical mechanisms that would control future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves in high-emission scenarios RCP8.5 and SSP5-8.5. We show that clouds enhance future surface melt by increasing the atmospheric emissivity and longwave radiation towards the surface. Furthermore, we highlight that differences in meltwater production for the same climate warming rate depend on cloud properties and particularly cloud phase. Clouds containing a larger amount of supercooled liquid water lead to stronger melt, subsequently favouring the absorption of solar radiation due to the snowmelt–albedo feedback. As liquid-containing clouds are projected to increase the melt spread associated with a given warming rate, they could be a major source of uncertainties in projections of the future Antarctic contribution to sea level rise. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic The Cryosphere 16 7 2655 2669 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
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English |
description |
Recent warm atmospheric conditions have damaged the ice shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula through surface melt and hydrofracturing and could potentially initiate future collapse of other Antarctic ice shelves. However, model projections with similar greenhouse gas scenarios suggest large differences in cumulative 21st-century surface melting. So far it remains unclear whether these differences are due to variations in warming rates in individual models or whether local feedback mechanisms of the surface energy budget could also play a notable role. Here we use the polar-oriented regional climate model MAR (Modèle Atmosphérique Régional) to study the physical mechanisms that would control future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves in high-emission scenarios RCP8.5 and SSP5-8.5. We show that clouds enhance future surface melt by increasing the atmospheric emissivity and longwave radiation towards the surface. Furthermore, we highlight that differences in meltwater production for the same climate warming rate depend on cloud properties and particularly cloud phase. Clouds containing a larger amount of supercooled liquid water lead to stronger melt, subsequently favouring the absorption of solar radiation due to the snowmelt–albedo feedback. As liquid-containing clouds are projected to increase the melt spread associated with a given warming rate, they could be a major source of uncertainties in projections of the future Antarctic contribution to sea level rise. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kittel, Christoph Amory, Charles Hofer, Stefan Agosta, Cécile Jourdain, Nicolas C. Gilbert, Ella Toumelin, Louis Vignon, Étienne Gallée, Hubert Fettweis, Xavier |
spellingShingle |
Kittel, Christoph Amory, Charles Hofer, Stefan Agosta, Cécile Jourdain, Nicolas C. Gilbert, Ella Toumelin, Louis Vignon, Étienne Gallée, Hubert Fettweis, Xavier Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
author_facet |
Kittel, Christoph Amory, Charles Hofer, Stefan Agosta, Cécile Jourdain, Nicolas C. Gilbert, Ella Toumelin, Louis Vignon, Étienne Gallée, Hubert Fettweis, Xavier |
author_sort |
Kittel, Christoph |
title |
Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
title_short |
Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full |
Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
title_fullStr |
Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the Antarctic ice shelves |
title_sort |
clouds drive differences in future surface melt over the antarctic ice shelves |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2655/2022/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2655/2022/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2655 |
op_container_end_page |
2669 |
_version_ |
1766272506050641920 |