Articles | Volume 18, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2141-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2141-2024
Research article
 | 
30 Apr 2024
Research article |  | 30 Apr 2024

Sources of low-frequency variability in observed Antarctic sea ice

David B. Bonan, Jakob Dörr, Robert C. J. Wills, Andrew F. Thompson, and Marius Årthun

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Short summary

Cited articles

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Årthun, M., Wills, R. C., Johnson, H. L., Chafik, L., and Langehaug, H. R.: Mechanisms of decadal North Atlantic climate variability and implications for the recent cold anomaly, J. Climate, 34, 3421–3439, 2021. a, b
Bintanja, R., van Oldenborgh, G. J., Drijfhout, S., Wouters, B., and Katsman, C.: Important role for ocean warming and increased ice-shelf melt in Antarctic sea-ice expansion, Nat. Geosci., 6, 376–379, 2013. a
Short summary
Antarctic sea ice has exhibited variability over satellite records, including a period of gradual expansion and a period of sudden decline. We use a novel statistical method to identify sources of variability in observed Antarctic sea ice changes. We find that the gradual increase in sea ice is likely related to large-scale temperature trends, and periods of abrupt sea ice decline are related to specific flavors of equatorial tropical variability known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation.
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