Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has been losing mass at an accelerating rate since the mid-1990s. This has been due to both increased ice discharge into the ocean and melting at the surface, with the latter being the dominant contribution. This change in state has been attributed to rising temperatur...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/119649413/Full_text_PDF_final_published_version_.pdf http://www.globalmass.eu/more-summer-sunshine-increases-greenland-ice-melt/ |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 2024-04-28T07:53:37+00:00 Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet Hofer, Stefan Tedstone, Andrew Fettweis, Xavier Bamber, Jonathan 2017-06-28 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1983/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/119649413/Full_text_PDF_final_published_version_.pdf http://www.globalmass.eu/more-summer-sunshine-increases-greenland-ice-melt/ eng eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/694188 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Hofer , S , Tedstone , A , Fettweis , X & Bamber , J 2017 , ' Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet ' , Science Advances , vol. 3 , no. 6 , e1700584 . https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 /dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/globalmass name=GlobalMass Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Cloud cover Mass balance Albedo Climate change Sea-level rise Climatology Remote sensing Climate modelling article 2017 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 2024-04-03T15:40:31Z The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has been losing mass at an accelerating rate since the mid-1990s. This has been due to both increased ice discharge into the ocean and melting at the surface, with the latter being the dominant contribution. This change in state has been attributed to rising temperatures and a decrease in surface albedo. We show, using satellite data and climate model output, that the abrupt reduction in surface mass balance since about 1995 can be attributed largely to a coincident trend of decreasing summer cloud cover enhancing the melt-albedo feedback. Satellite observations show that, from 1995 to 2009, summer cloud cover decreased by 0.9 ± 0.3% per year. Model output indicates that the GrIS summer melt increases by 27 ± 13 gigatons (Gt) per percent reduction in summer cloud cover, principally because of the impact of increased shortwave radiation over the low albedo ablation zone. The observed reduction in cloud cover is strongly correlated with a state shift in the North Atlantic Oscillation promoting anticyclonic conditions in summer and suggests that the enhanced surface mass loss from the GrIS is driven by synoptic-scale changes in Arctic-wide atmospheric circulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Climate change Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation University of Bristol: Bristol Research Science Advances 3 6 e1700584 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
topic |
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/globalmass name=GlobalMass Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Cloud cover Mass balance Albedo Climate change Sea-level rise Climatology Remote sensing Climate modelling |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/globalmass name=GlobalMass Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Cloud cover Mass balance Albedo Climate change Sea-level rise Climatology Remote sensing Climate modelling Hofer, Stefan Tedstone, Andrew Fettweis, Xavier Bamber, Jonathan Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/globalmass name=GlobalMass Greenland Greenland Ice Sheet Cloud cover Mass balance Albedo Climate change Sea-level rise Climatology Remote sensing Climate modelling |
description |
The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has been losing mass at an accelerating rate since the mid-1990s. This has been due to both increased ice discharge into the ocean and melting at the surface, with the latter being the dominant contribution. This change in state has been attributed to rising temperatures and a decrease in surface albedo. We show, using satellite data and climate model output, that the abrupt reduction in surface mass balance since about 1995 can be attributed largely to a coincident trend of decreasing summer cloud cover enhancing the melt-albedo feedback. Satellite observations show that, from 1995 to 2009, summer cloud cover decreased by 0.9 ± 0.3% per year. Model output indicates that the GrIS summer melt increases by 27 ± 13 gigatons (Gt) per percent reduction in summer cloud cover, principally because of the impact of increased shortwave radiation over the low albedo ablation zone. The observed reduction in cloud cover is strongly correlated with a state shift in the North Atlantic Oscillation promoting anticyclonic conditions in summer and suggests that the enhanced surface mass loss from the GrIS is driven by synoptic-scale changes in Arctic-wide atmospheric circulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hofer, Stefan Tedstone, Andrew Fettweis, Xavier Bamber, Jonathan |
author_facet |
Hofer, Stefan Tedstone, Andrew Fettweis, Xavier Bamber, Jonathan |
author_sort |
Hofer, Stefan |
title |
Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_short |
Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full |
Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_fullStr |
Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_sort |
decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the greenland ice sheet |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/119649413/Full_text_PDF_final_published_version_.pdf http://www.globalmass.eu/more-summer-sunshine-increases-greenland-ice-melt/ |
genre |
albedo Arctic Climate change Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Climate change Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_source |
Hofer , S , Tedstone , A , Fettweis , X & Bamber , J 2017 , ' Decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland Ice Sheet ' , Science Advances , vol. 3 , no. 6 , e1700584 . https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/694188 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/9c8247d5-0ce1-42d3-a0af-9b1ac7c16fb1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700584 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e1700584 |
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1797572690762006528 |