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Climate modification by future ice sheet changes and consequences for ice sheet mass balance

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Author

  • M. Vizcaino
  • U. Mikolajewicz
  • J. Jungclaus
  • Guy Schurgers

Summary, in English

The future evolution of global ice sheets under anthropogenic greenhouse forcing and its impact on the climate system, including the regional climate of the ice sheets, are investigated with a comprehensive earth system model consisting of a coupled Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model, a dynamic vegetation model and an ice sheet model. The simulated control climate is realistic enough to permit a direct coupling of the atmosphere and ice sheet components, avoiding the use of anomaly coupling, which represents a strong improvement with respect to previous modelling studies. Glacier ablation is calculated with an energy-balance scheme, a more physical approach than the commonly used degree-day method. Modifications of glacier mask, topographic height and freshwater fluxes by the ice sheets influence the atmosphere and ocean via dynamical and thermodynamical processes. Several simulations under idealized scenarios of greenhouse forcing have been performed, where the atmospheric carbon dioxide stabilizes at two and four times pre-industrial levels. The evolution of the climate system and the ice sheets in the simulations with interactive ice sheets is compared with the simulations with passively coupled ice sheets. For a four-times CO2 scenario forcing, a faster decay rate of the Greenland ice sheet is found in the non-interactive case, where melting rates are higher. This is caused by overestimation of the increase in near-surface temperature that follows the reduction in topographic height. In areas close to retreating margins, melting rates are stronger in the interactive case, due to changes in local albedo. Our results call for careful consideration of the feedbacks operating between ice sheets and climate after substantial decay of the ice sheets.

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

301-324

Publication/Series

Climate Dynamics

Volume

34

Issue

2-3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Physical Geography

Keywords

  • Ice sheets
  • Feedbacks in the climate
  • system
  • Meridional overturning circulation
  • Earth system modelling
  • Anthropogenic climate change

Status

Published

Project

  • Climate Initiative

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1432-0894