The Cryosphere, 10 April 2024
Antarctica’s coastline is fringed with sea ice that buttresses large glaciers around the continent, but increasing exposure to large ocean waves in a warming climate could remove this protective barrier. In the Antarctic Peninsula, “land-fast” sea ice anchored to the Larsen B coast for over a decade broke away in January 2022; due to a combination of unusually high temperatures, record-breaking low levels of sea ice in the open ocean, and intense ocean swells. After this event, glaciers in the region responded by thinning, speeding up, and retreating by breaking off icebergs at remarkable rates. This study makes clear that if carbon emissions keep elevating temperatures, these extreme events will become increasingly common, ultimately producing faster global sea-level rise.
PNAS, 6 July 2026 Antarctic ice shelves act as natural barriers that slow the flow…
Nature Climate Change, 10 June 2026 Human-driven sea-level rise is transforming once-rare “extreme sea-level events”…
Advances in Climate Change Research, June 2026 Extratropical cyclones – large weather systems that transport…
Ocean Science, 30 June 2026 The North Sea has warmed about twice as fast as…
Environmental Research Climate, 3 July 2026 Glaciers in the Western Himalayas store vast freshwater reserves…
Climate Dynamics, 28 May 2026 Declining sea ice in the Arctic’s Barents-Kara Sea may be…