Ice and sea level change projections with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM

• Main Authors: Goelzer , Heiko, Huybrechts , Philippe, Loutre , Marie-France, Goosse, Hugues, Fichefet, Thierry, Mouchet , Anne, Belgian IPY Symposium. The Contribution of Belgian Research to the Achievements of the International Polar Year 2007-2009, Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van Belgie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten
• Other Authors: VUB - Earth System Sciences & Departement Geografie, UCL - SST/ELI/ELIC - Earth & Climate, Université de Liège - Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: 1443; Antarctic; Greenland; Antarc*; glacier; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/71114

We present new results from future ice sheet evolution and sea-level change experiments with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM. LOVECLIM includes fully coupled three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-dynamics models of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and a global glacier melt algorithm to account for the response of mountain glaciers and small ice caps. To close the total sea-level change budget, oceanic thermal expansion is diagnosed from the water temperature of the ocean model. The model constitutes an ideal tool for simulating ice sheet evolution and coupled ice-climate interactions on millennial to multi-millennial time scales. In the present study a large range of the model's sensitivity to greenhouse warming was sampled by systematic parameter variations. This led to an ensemble of model versions that simulate the present day climate consistent with observations, while producing contrasted results for the future period. We discuss the role of ice-climate interactions and the wide range of sea-level change projections obtained by following prolonged SRES scenarios B1, A1B and A2 over the third millennium