Palaeoceanographic records indicate that abrupt cooling of Northern Hemisphere during deglacial periods are linked to weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, a new article published in Nature argues that during a weak state of the AMOC, ocean heat is released to the atmosphere increasing the global surface temperature. This study further suggests that during... Continue Reading →
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in 2070, under low and high emissions scenarios
A team of experts in biology, oceanography, glaciology, geophysics, climate science and policy, analyzed the potential impacts of two different future scenarios of carbon emissions, RCP2.6 (low emission & strong action) and RCP 8.5 (high emission & weak action), on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The team assessed key systems including global average air temperature; Antarctic contribution... Continue Reading →
Antarctic ice sheet lost 2,720 ± 1,390 billion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2017
A team of scientists leading the ice sheet mass balance inter-comparison exercise (IMBIE) combined satellite observations of the Antarctic ice sheet, its changing volume, flow and gravitational attraction with modelling of its surface mass balance from 1992 to 2017. Their report, recently published in Nature, showed that the Antarctic ice sheet lost 2,720 ± 1,390 billion tonnes of... Continue Reading →
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell
Understanding the causes of recent catastrophic ice shelf disintegrations is a crucial step towards improving coupled models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and predicting its future state and contribution to sea-level rise. An overlooked climate-related causal factor is regional sea ice loss. Here we show that for the disintegration events observed (the collapse of the... Continue Reading →
Multidecadal weakening of Indian summer monsoon circulation induces an increasing northern Indian Ocean sea level
North Indian Ocean sea level has shown significant increase during last three to four decades. Analyses of long-term climate data sets and ocean model sensitivity experiments identify a mechanism for multidecadal sea level variability relative to global mean. Our results indicate that North Indian Ocean sea level rise is accompanied by a weakening summer monsoon... Continue Reading →
Ocean to Climate 