East Antarctic warming forced by ice loss during the Last Interglacial

David K. Hutchinson (), Laurie Menviel, Katrin J. Meissner and Andrew McC. Hogg
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David K. Hutchinson: University of New South Wales
Laurie Menviel: University of New South Wales
Katrin J. Meissner: University of New South Wales
Andrew McC. Hogg: University of New South Wales

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract During the Last Interglacial (LIG; 129-116 thousand years before present), the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) was 1 to 7 m sea level equivalent smaller than at pre-industrial. Here, we assess the climatic impact of partial AIS melting at the LIG by forcing a coupled climate model with a smaller AIS and the equivalent meltwater input around the Antarctic coast. We find that changes in surface elevation induce surface warming over East Antarctica of 2 to 4 °C, and sea surface temperature (SST) increases in the Weddell and Ross Seas by up to 2 °C. Meltwater forcing causes a high latitude SST decrease and a subsurface (100–500 m) ocean temperature increase by up to 2 °C in the Ross Sea. Our results suggest that the combination of a smaller AIS and enhanced meltwater input leads to a larger sub-surface warming than meltwater alone and induces further Antarctic warming than each perturbation separately.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45501-x

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