Articles | Volume 20, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2871-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-2871-2026
Research article
 | 
21 May 2026
Research article |  | 21 May 2026

Estimating the thermodynamic contribution of post-industrial warming to recent Greenland ice sheet surface mass loss

Jonathon R. Preece, Patrick Alexander, Thomas L. Mote, Gabriel J. Kooperman, Xavier Fettweis, and Marco Tedesco

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Cited articles

Amory, C., Kittel, C., Le Toumelin, L., Agosta, C., Delhasse, A., Favier, V., and Fettweis, X.: Performance of MAR (v3.11) in simulating the drifting-snow climate and surface mass balance of Adélie Land, East Antarctica, Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3487–3510, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3487-2021, 2021. 
Andersen, M. L., Nettles, M., Elosegui, P., Larsen, T. B., Hamilton, G. S., and Stearns, L. A.: Quantitative estimates of velocity sensitivity to surface melt variations at a large Greenland outlet glacier, J. Glaciol., 57, 609–620, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311797409785, 2011. 
Bailey, H. and Hubbard, A.: Snow Mass Recharge of the Greenland Ice Sheet Fueled by Intense Atmospheric River, Geophys. Res. Lett., 52, e2024GL110121, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110121, 2025. 
Ballinger, T. J., Hanna, E., Hall, R. J., Miller, J., Ribergaard, M. H., and Høyer, J. L.: Greenland coastal air temperatures linked to Baffin Bay and Greenland Sea ice conditions during autumn through regional blocking patterns, Clim. Dynam., 50, 83–100, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3583-3, 2018. 
Ballinger, T. J., Mote, T. L., Mattingly, K., Bliss, A. C., Hanna, E., van As, D., Prieto, M., Gharehchahi, S., Fettweis, X., Noël, B., Smeets, P. C. J. P., Reijmer, C. H., Ribergaard, M. H., and Cappelen, J.: Greenland Ice Sheet late-season melt: investigating multiscale drivers of K-transect events, The Cryosphere, 13, 2241–2257, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2241-2019, 2019. 
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Short summary
Surface melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased dramatically since the turn of the century, aided by an increase in persistent atmospheric circulation patterns that promote anomalously warm conditions. Through modeling experiments, this study shows that surface mass loss would have been reduced by 62% relative to historical conditions if this shift in atmospheric circulation would have occurred under the lower average temperatures of a preindustrial climate.
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