DBT
Contributor
"A persistent patch of unusually warm tropical ocean helped intensify snowfall over East Antarctica, contributing to a temporary net ice sheet mass gain of about 695 billion tons, according to a new study published in Nature on August 19.
Researchers found that sustained warming in the tropical warm pool during 2021-23 set off a chain of atmospheric changes that ultimately affected weather thousands of miles away in Antarctica. The warming generated a Rossby wave train that traveled toward the continent, helped establish a north-south circulation pattern over East Antarctica, altered the movement of moisture, and increased regional snowfall. Together, these changes temporarily slowed the Antarctic Ice Sheet's overall loss of mass."
Researchers found that sustained warming in the tropical warm pool during 2021-23 set off a chain of atmospheric changes that ultimately affected weather thousands of miles away in Antarctica. The warming generated a Rossby wave train that traveled toward the continent, helped establish a north-south circulation pattern over East Antarctica, altered the movement of moisture, and increased regional snowfall. Together, these changes temporarily slowed the Antarctic Ice Sheet's overall loss of mass."
Antarctica gained a record 695 billion tons of ice. Scientists found the surprising reason
East Antarctica gained an astonishing 695 billion tons of ice between 2021 and 2023, temporarily slowing Antarctica’s long-term decline. Researchers found that warming thousands of miles away in the tropical ocean altered atmospheric circulation and funneled moisture toward the continent...
www.sciencedaily.com