Impacts of the north and tropical Atlantic Ocean on the Antarctic Peninsula and sea ice

Li, Xichen; Holland, David M.; Gerber, Edwin P.; Yoo, Changhyun

doi:10.1038/nature12945

Cited by 265 publications

(311 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Interseasonal thermodynamic feedback are also apparent in all regions. These considerations underline the complexity of climate processes and suggest that caution must be employed when interpreting the results of the many studies that link sea ice extent in any given region or season to local forcings [e.g., Holland and Kwok, 2012;Holland, 2014;Li et al, 2014;Kwok et al, 2016;Meehl et al, 2016].…”

Section: /2017gl073414mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Around West Antarctica, the transport of sea ice is dominated by the dynamic response to a climatological quasi-stationary low pressure referred to as the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) [Holland and Kwok, 2012;Hosking et al, 2013;Meehl et al, 2016;Raphael et al, 2016]. This sector is also where robust teleconnections to tropical climate variability occur [Ding et al, 2011;Schneider et al, 2012;Li et al, 2014]. In particular, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been strongly linked to changes in sea ice concentration in this region [e.g., Kwok and Comiso, 2002;Stammerjohn et al, 2008;Matear et al, 2015;Kwok et al, 2016] and in other regions within the Southern Ocean [Yuan and Martinson, 2001;Holland et al, 2005].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current generation of climate models almost all fail to capture this increase, while the decrease in Arctic sea ice is much better reproduced Zunz et al, 2013;Shu et al, 2015], suggesting that the models poorly represent the physical process's governing Antarctic sea ice. Moreover, considerable uncertainty still exists as to whether this increase is caused by natural variability or anthropogenic forcings (or some combination), as these factors are known to induce changes to Antarctic sea ice by altering the atmospheric circulation [Yuan and Martinson, 2001;Stammerjohn et al, 2008;Turner et al, 2009;Simpkins et al, 2012;Polvani and Smith, 2013;Zunz et al, 2013;Barnes et al, 2014;Li et al, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2015;Meehl et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

Pope

Holland

Orr

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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We assess the impact of El Niño‐induced wind changes on seasonal West Antarctic sea ice concentrations using reanalysis data and sea ice observations. A novel ice budget analysis reveals that in autumn a previously identified east‐west dipole of sea ice concentration anomalies is formed by dynamic and thermodynamic processes in response to El Niño‐generated circulation changes. The dipole features decreased (increased) concentration in the Ross Sea (Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas). Thermodynamic processes and feedback make a substantial contribution to ice anomalies in all seasons. The eastward propagation of this anomaly is partly driven by mean sea ice drift rather than anomalous winds. Our results demonstrate that linkages between sea ice anomalies and atmospheric variability are highly nonlocal in space and time. Therefore, we assert that caution should be applied when interpreting the results of studies that attribute sea ice changes without accounting for such temporally and spatially remote linkages.

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Section: /2017gl073414mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

Pope

Holland

Orr

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…During the El Niño (La Niña) phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, MSLP values in the region of the ASL are higher (lower) [26], which influences the wind field and therefore the sea ice distribution between the Antarctic Peninsula and the Ross Sea. Trends in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the Atlantic Ocean have also recently been linked to MSLP and sea ice changes in this sector [27].…”

Section: Mechanisms That May Be Contributing To the Observed Sea Icementioning

confidence: 99%

Recent changes in Antarctic Sea Ice

Turner

Hosking

Bracegirdle

et al. 2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

156

146

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One contribution of 9 to a discussion meeting issue 'Arctic sea ice reduction: the evidence, models and impacts (part 1)' . In contrast to the Arctic, total sea ice extent (SIE) across the Southern Ocean has increased since the late 1970s, with the annual mean increasing at a rate of 186 × 10 3 km 2 per decade (1.5% per decade; p < 0.01) for 1979-2013. However, this overall increase masks larger regional variations, most notably an increase (decrease) over the Ross (Amundsen-Bellingshausen) Sea. Sea ice variability results from changes in atmospheric and oceanic conditions, although the former is thought to be more significant, since there is a high correlation between anomalies in the ice concentration and the near-surface wind field. The Southern Ocean SIE trend is dominated by the increase in the Ross Sea sector, where the SIE is significantly correlated with the depth of the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL), which has deepened since 1979. The depth of the ASL is influenced by a number of external factors, including tropical sea surface temperatures, but the low also has a large locally driven intrinsic variability, suggesting that SIE in these areas is especially variable. Many of the current generation of coupled climate models have difficulty in simulating sea ice. However, output from the better-performing IPCC CMIP5 models suggests that the recent increase in Antarctic SIE may be within the bounds of intrinsic/internal variability.

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“…This reduction is likely due to changes in wind patterns that have also caused increases in ice cover elsewhere around Antarctica [Holland and Kwok, 2012]. The changes in the local wind forcing have been linked to the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation [Marshall, 2003;Stammerjohn et al, 2008b;Turner et al, 2009;Li et al, 2014].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feedbacks between ice cover, ocean stratification, and heat content in Ryder Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula

Venables

Meredith

2014

JGR Oceans

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A multiyear, all-season time series of water column physical properties and sea ice conditions in Ryder Bay, at the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), is used to assess the effects on the ocean of varying ice cover. Reduced ice cover leads to increased mixing and heat loss in the winter. The reduction in stratification persists into the following summer, preconditioning the water column to a greater vertical extent of surface-driven mixing. This leads to an increased amount of heat from insolation being mixed down, affecting approximately the top 100 m. The increased heat uptake in summer exceeds the heat lost the preceding winter, giving the initially counter-intuitive effect that enhanced winter cooling generates warmer temperatures in the following summer and autumn. This process is therefore a positive feedback on sea ice, as reduced sea ice leads to increased heat content in the ocean the following autumn. It also causes increased winter atmospheric temperatures due to the increased winter heat loss from the ocean. In the deeper part of the water column, heat and carbon stored in the Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) layer are released by deep mixing events. At these depths, conditions are restored by advection and vertical mixing on multiyear time scales. In recent years, stronger deep mixing events in winter have led to a persistent reduction in CDW temperatures at the study site. Ocean glider data demonstrate the representativeness of these results across the wider region of Marguerite Bay, within which Ryder Bay is situated.

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Impacts of the north and tropical Atlantic Ocean on the Antarctic Peninsula and sea ice

Cited by 265 publications

References 43 publications

The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

Recent changes in Antarctic Sea Ice

Feedbacks between ice cover, ocean stratification, and heat content in Ryder Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula

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