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Potential for Southern Hemisphere climate surprises |
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| Authors: | P. A. MAYEWSKI T. BRACEGIRDLE I. GOODWIN D. SCHNEIDER N. A. N. BERTLER S. BIRKEL A. CARLETON M. H. ENGLAND J‐H. KANG A. KHAN J. RUSSELL J. TURNER I. VELICOGNA |
| Affiliation: | 1. Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, ME, USA;2. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK;3. Climate Futures and Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia;4. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA;5. Joint Antarctic Research Institute, Victoria University and GNS Science, Wellington, New Zealand;6. Department of Geography and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA;7. Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia;8. Division of Polar Climate Change Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Yeonsu‐gu, Incheon, Korea;9. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA;10. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA;11. University of California Irvine and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA |
| Abstract: | Climate model results suggest that future climate change in Antarctica will be accompanied by continued strengthening and poleward contraction of the Southern Ocean westerly wind belt. Paleoclimate records suggest past changes in the westerly winds can be abrupt and that healing of the Antarctic ozone hole could lead to poleward contraction of the westerlies and increased meridional atmospheric transport of warm air regionally into Antarctica. An abrupt shift to more meridional circulation could lead to notable changes in moisture availability for extra‐Antarctic regions, increased Antarctic ice sheet disintegration and more rapid sea‐level rise. |
| Keywords: | Antarctica climate modeling paleoclimate Southern Hemisphere climate westerlies |