Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016
After exhibiting an upward trend since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) declined dramatically during austral spring 2016, reaching a record low by December 2016. Here we show that a combination of atmospheric and oceanic phenomena played primary roles for this decline. The anomalous atmospheric...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1609289 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609289 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 |
id |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1609289 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1609289 2023-07-30T03:57:21+02:00 Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 Wang, Guomin Hendon, Harry H. Arblaster, Julie M. Lim, Eun-Pa Abhik, S. van Rensch, Peter 2023-07-03 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1609289 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609289 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1609289 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609289 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 2023 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 2023-07-11T09:41:06Z After exhibiting an upward trend since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) declined dramatically during austral spring 2016, reaching a record low by December 2016. Here we show that a combination of atmospheric and oceanic phenomena played primary roles for this decline. The anomalous atmospheric circulation was initially driven by record strength tropical convection over the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, which resulted in a wave-3 circulation pattern around Antarctica that acted to reduce SIE in the Indian Ocean, Ross and Bellingshausen Sea sectors. Subsequently, the polar stratospheric vortex weakened significantly, resulting in record weakening of the circumpolar surface westerlies that acted to decrease SIE in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean sectors. These processes appear to reflect unusual internal atmosphere-ocean variability. However, the warming trend of the tropical Indian Ocean, which may partly stem from anthropogenic forcing, may have contributed to the severity of the 2016 SIE decline. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Sea ice SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Antarctic Austral Bellingshausen Sea Indian Pacific Nature Communications 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
spellingShingle |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Wang, Guomin Hendon, Harry H. Arblaster, Julie M. Lim, Eun-Pa Abhik, S. van Rensch, Peter Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
topic_facet |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
description |
After exhibiting an upward trend since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) declined dramatically during austral spring 2016, reaching a record low by December 2016. Here we show that a combination of atmospheric and oceanic phenomena played primary roles for this decline. The anomalous atmospheric circulation was initially driven by record strength tropical convection over the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, which resulted in a wave-3 circulation pattern around Antarctica that acted to reduce SIE in the Indian Ocean, Ross and Bellingshausen Sea sectors. Subsequently, the polar stratospheric vortex weakened significantly, resulting in record weakening of the circumpolar surface westerlies that acted to decrease SIE in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean sectors. These processes appear to reflect unusual internal atmosphere-ocean variability. However, the warming trend of the tropical Indian Ocean, which may partly stem from anthropogenic forcing, may have contributed to the severity of the 2016 SIE decline. |
author |
Wang, Guomin Hendon, Harry H. Arblaster, Julie M. Lim, Eun-Pa Abhik, S. van Rensch, Peter |
author_facet |
Wang, Guomin Hendon, Harry H. Arblaster, Julie M. Lim, Eun-Pa Abhik, S. van Rensch, Peter |
author_sort |
Wang, Guomin |
title |
Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
title_short |
Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
title_full |
Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
title_fullStr |
Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low Antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
title_sort |
compounding tropical and stratospheric forcing of the record low antarctic sea-ice in 2016 |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1609289 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609289 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral Bellingshausen Sea Indian Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral Bellingshausen Sea Indian Pacific |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Bellingshausen Sea Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1609289 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609289 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07689-7 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1772817072396435456 |