West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing
Recent ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been caused by ocean melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea. Eastward wind anomalies at the shelf break enhance the import of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf, which creates transient melting anomalies with...
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Online Access: | https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0420-9 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/1/West%20Antarctic%20ice%20loss%20influenced%20by%20internal%20climate%20variability%20and%20anthropogenic%20forcing.pdf |
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ftunivnorthumb:oai:nrl.northumbria.ac.uk:42678 2023-05-15T13:23:38+02:00 West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing Holland, Paul R. Bracegirdle, Thomas J. Dutrieux, Pierre Jenkins, Adrian Steig, Eric J. 2019-09-01 text https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0420-9 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/1/West%20Antarctic%20ice%20loss%20influenced%20by%20internal%20climate%20variability%20and%20anthropogenic%20forcing.pdf en eng Nature Publishing https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/1/West%20Antarctic%20ice%20loss%20influenced%20by%20internal%20climate%20variability%20and%20anthropogenic%20forcing.pdf Holland, Paul R., Bracegirdle, Thomas J., Dutrieux, Pierre, Jenkins, Adrian and Steig, Eric J. (2019) West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing. Nature Geoscience, 12 (9). pp. 718-724. ISSN 1752-0894 F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftunivnorthumb https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0420-9 2022-09-25T06:11:45Z Recent ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been caused by ocean melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea. Eastward wind anomalies at the shelf break enhance the import of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf, which creates transient melting anomalies with an approximately decadal period. No anthropogenic influence on this process has been established. Here, we combine observations and climate model simulations to suggest that increased greenhouse gas forcing caused shelf-break winds to transition from mean easterlies in the 1920s to the near-zero mean zonal winds of the present day. Strong internal climate variability, primarily linked to the tropical Pacific, is superimposed on this forced trend. We infer that the Amundsen Sea experienced decadal ocean variability throughout the twentieth century, with warm anomalies gradually becoming more prevalent, offering a credible explanation for the ongoing ice loss. Existing climate model projections show that strong future greenhouse gas forcing creates persistent mean westerly shelf-break winds by 2100, suggesting a further enhancement of warm ocean anomalies. These wind changes are weaker under a scenario in which greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilized. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) Amundsen Sea Antarctic Pacific West Antarctic Ice Sheet Nature Geoscience 12 9 718 724 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Northumbria University, Newcastle: Northumbria Research Link (NRL) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnorthumb |
language |
English |
topic |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences Holland, Paul R. Bracegirdle, Thomas J. Dutrieux, Pierre Jenkins, Adrian Steig, Eric J. West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
topic_facet |
F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
description |
Recent ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been caused by ocean melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea. Eastward wind anomalies at the shelf break enhance the import of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf, which creates transient melting anomalies with an approximately decadal period. No anthropogenic influence on this process has been established. Here, we combine observations and climate model simulations to suggest that increased greenhouse gas forcing caused shelf-break winds to transition from mean easterlies in the 1920s to the near-zero mean zonal winds of the present day. Strong internal climate variability, primarily linked to the tropical Pacific, is superimposed on this forced trend. We infer that the Amundsen Sea experienced decadal ocean variability throughout the twentieth century, with warm anomalies gradually becoming more prevalent, offering a credible explanation for the ongoing ice loss. Existing climate model projections show that strong future greenhouse gas forcing creates persistent mean westerly shelf-break winds by 2100, suggesting a further enhancement of warm ocean anomalies. These wind changes are weaker under a scenario in which greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilized. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Holland, Paul R. Bracegirdle, Thomas J. Dutrieux, Pierre Jenkins, Adrian Steig, Eric J. |
author_facet |
Holland, Paul R. Bracegirdle, Thomas J. Dutrieux, Pierre Jenkins, Adrian Steig, Eric J. |
author_sort |
Holland, Paul R. |
title |
West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
title_short |
West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
title_full |
West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
title_fullStr |
West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
title_full_unstemmed |
West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
title_sort |
west antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing |
publisher |
Nature Publishing |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0420-9 https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/1/West%20Antarctic%20ice%20loss%20influenced%20by%20internal%20climate%20variability%20and%20anthropogenic%20forcing.pdf |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Pacific West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Pacific West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42678/1/West%20Antarctic%20ice%20loss%20influenced%20by%20internal%20climate%20variability%20and%20anthropogenic%20forcing.pdf Holland, Paul R., Bracegirdle, Thomas J., Dutrieux, Pierre, Jenkins, Adrian and Steig, Eric J. (2019) West Antarctic ice loss influenced by internal climate variability and anthropogenic forcing. Nature Geoscience, 12 (9). pp. 718-724. ISSN 1752-0894 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0420-9 |
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Nature Geoscience |
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12 |
container_issue |
9 |
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718 |
op_container_end_page |
724 |
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