Sea Level Rise Seminar, 2020-06-08: Tore Hattermann

Sea Level Rise Seminar, 2020-06-08
Speaker: Tore Hattermann
Topic: The controls of ice shelf melting in the southern Weddell Sea

Overview: Whether or not a changing climate will give access of warmer ocean water to the cold southern Weddell Sea continental shelf is a single major uncertainty for predicting future global sea level rise. Models consistently suggest the existence of an irreversible tipping-point, where self-sustained ocean heat supply acts to multiply basal melt and associated grounded ice loss at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelves (FRIS). However, little is known about the actual thresholds of the regulating parameters, their link to large-scale climate and the overall likelihood (or risk) for this to happen in the future of our planet. In this talk, I will first review the key mechanisms controlling the access of warmer water to FRIS and how these are currently represented in state-of the-art sea level projections. I will then report on recent insights from high-resolution modelling and ice shelf cavity observations on what may trigger the cold-to-warm shift. The results identify key indicators of the large-scale atmosphere and ocean circulation that control changes beneath FRIS, also indicating how likely such a regime shift may occur in a future climate.

Видео Sea Level Rise Seminar, 2020-06-08: Tore Hattermann канала NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies