The effect of Antarctic freshwater fluxes on climate
| When |
May 11, 2026
from 10:45 to 11:45 |
|---|---|
| Where | Salle Condorcet |
| Contact Name | Alexis Poncet |
| Attendees |
Irena Vaňková |
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Antarctic freshwater fluxes, such as ice-shelf basal meltwater and subglacial discharge, are difficult to observe; furthermore, until recently they have been only crudely represented in global climate models. I will review recent advances in estimating present-day rates of ice-shelf basal melting, as well as progress in simulating these processes within global climate models. I will then use a global configuration of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), which includes thermodynamically active ice-shelf cavities, to investigate the feedbacks between Southern Ocean properties and rates of ice-shelf basal melting in a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario. We find that freshening due to basal melt has similar effects to freshening due to declining sea-ice formation. Consequently, the primary effect of including interactive ice-shelf basal melting in global models is that Southern Ocean changes occur at an accelerated rate. Therefore, the omission of interactive ice-shelf basal melting introduces a bias in the timing of projected ocean‐melt‐driven ice loss from Antarctica.