Rapid increases in satellite-observed ice sheet surface meltwater production

Lei Zheng, Xinyi Shang, Michiel R. Broeke, Brice Noël, Xichen Li, Xavier Fettweis, Qi Liang, Kang Wang, Jiping Liu and Xiao Cheng ()
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Lei Zheng: Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)
Xinyi Shang: Beijing Normal University
Michiel R. Broeke: Utrecht University
Brice Noël: University of Liège
Xichen Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xavier Fettweis: University of Liège
Qi Liang: Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)
Kang Wang: East China Normal University
Jiping Liu: Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)
Xiao Cheng: Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)

Nature Climate Change, 2025, vol. 15, issue 7, 769-774

Abstract: Abstract Surface meltwater production influences the contribution of ice sheets to global sea-level change. Ice-sheet-wide meltwater production has thus far primarily been quantified by regional climate models. Here we present a 31-year (1992–2023) time series of daily satellite-observed surface melt flux for the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. The annual meltwater volume in Greenland has significantly increased, with intensified melt in the northern basins dominated by a negative North Atlantic Oscillation and elevated melt flux in western basins driven by the decline in Arctic sea-ice. In East Antarctica, high melt rates since 2000 are attributed to warm air incursions from the Southern Ocean due to anomalous atmospheric circulations associated with a negative Southern Annular Mode and the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole. This region, previously less prone to surface melt, has become a melt hotspot, potentially leading to meltwater ponding and future ice shelf destabilization.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-025-02364-4

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