Freshwater Discharge from Antarctica Shows Major Impacts on Future Climate

Science Advances, September 23

Under moderate and high emissions scenarios, the discharge of vast amounts of meltwater from the Antarctic Ice Sheet into the Southern Ocean could affect ocean currents and regional/global climate patterns due to impacts on the overturning ocean circulation.  The faster the ice sheet melts, the more cold freshwater flows into the Southern Ocean.  This could lead to a temporary cooling effect on air temperatures around Antarctica, while ocean and air temperatures elsewhere would continue warming. The future of the ice sheet hence depends on this interplay between atmospheric and oceanic processes. The temporary cooling effect disappears more quickly under high emissions scenarios.

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/39/eaaz1169

Compiled by Amy Imdieke