Articles | Volume 17, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Oct 2023
Research article |
| 19 Oct 2023
| 19 Oct 2023
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Paul R. Holland
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Eric J. Steig
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Pierre Dutrieux
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Gregory J. Hakim
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Lindsey Davidge, Eric J. Steig, and Andrew J. Schauer
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Paul R. Holland, Gemma K. O'Connor, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Pierre Dutrieux, Kaitlin A. Naughten, Eric J. Steig, David P. Schneider, Adrian Jenkins, and James A. Smith
The Cryosphere, 16, 5085–5105, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5085-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5085-2022, 2022
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Antony Siahaan, Robin S. Smith, Paul R. Holland, Adrian Jenkins, Jonathan M. Gregory, Victoria Lee, Pierre Mathiot, Antony J. Payne, Jeff K. Ridley, and Colin G. Jones
The Cryosphere, 16, 4053–4086, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4053-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4053-2022, 2022
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The UK Earth System Model is the first to fully include interactions of the atmosphere and ocean with the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Under the low-greenhouse-gas SSP1–1.9 (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway) scenario, the ice sheet remains stable over the 21st century. Under the strong-greenhouse-gas SSP5–8.5 scenario, the model predicts strong increases in melting of large ice shelves and snow accumulation on the surface. The dominance of accumulation leads to a sea level fall at the end of the century.
Bradley R. Markle and Eric J. Steig
Clim. Past, 18, 1321–1368, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1321-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1321-2022, 2022
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The geochemistry preserved in polar ice can provide detailed histories of Earth’s climate over millennia. Here we use the stable isotope ratios of ice from many Antarctic ice cores to reconstruct temperature variability of Antarctica and the midlatitude Southern Hemisphere over tens of thousands of years. We improve upon existing methods to estimate temperature from the geochemical measurements and investigate the patterns of climate change in the past.
Xuewei Li, Qinghua Yang, Lejiang Yu, Paul R. Holland, Chao Min, Longjiang Mu, and Dake Chen
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-359, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2020-359, 2021
Preprint withdrawn
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The Arctic sea ice thickness record minimum is confirmed occurring in autumn 2011. The dynamic and thermodynamic processes leading to the minimum thickness is analyzed based on a daily sea ice thickness reanalysis data covering the melting season. The results demonstrate that the dynamic transport of multiyear ice and the subsequent surface energy budget response is a critical mechanism actively contributing to the evolution of Arctic sea ice thickness in 2011.
Jenna A. Epifanio, Edward J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Jon S. Edwards, Todd A. Sowers, Emma C. Kahle, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Eric J. Steig, Dominic A. Winski, Erich C. Osterberg, Tyler J. Fudge, Murat Aydin, Ekaterina Hood, Michael Kalk, Karl J. Kreutz, David G. Ferris, and Joshua A. Kennedy
Clim. Past, 16, 2431–2444, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2431-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2431-2020, 2020
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A new ice core drilled at the South Pole provides a 54 000-year paleo-environmental record including the composition of the past atmosphere. This paper describes the gas chronology for the South Pole ice core, based on a high-resolution methane record. The new gas chronology, in combination with the existing ice age scale from Winski et al. (2019), allows a model-independent reconstruction of the delta age record.
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Short summary
Glaciers in West Antarctica are rapidly melting, but the causes are unknown due to limited observations. A leading hypothesis is that an unusually large wind event in the 1940s initiated the ocean-driven melting. Using proxy reconstructions (e.g., using ice cores) and climate model simulations, we find that wind events similar to the 1940s event are relatively common on millennial timescales, implying that ocean variability or climate trends are also necessary to explain the start of ice loss.
Glaciers in West Antarctica are rapidly melting, but the causes are unknown due to limited...
