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Increasing extreme melt in northeast Greenland linked to foehn winds and atmospheric rivers

Author

Listed:
  • Kyle S. Mattingly

    (University of Wisconsin–Madison
    the State University of New Jersey)

  • Jenny V. Turton

    (Friedrich-Alexander University
    Arctic Frontiers AS)

  • Jonathan D. Wille

    (Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, CNRS/UGA/IRD/G-INP
    ETH Zurich)

  • Brice Noël

    (Utrecht University
    University of Liège)

  • Xavier Fettweis

    (University of Liège)

  • Åsa K. Rennermalm

    (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)

  • Thomas L. Mote

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

The Greenland Ice Sheet has been losing mass at an increased rate in recent decades. In northeast Greenland, increasing surface melt has accompanied speed-ups in the outlet glaciers of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, which contain over one meter of sea level rise potential. Here we show that the most intense northeast Greenland melt events are driven by atmospheric rivers (ARs) affecting northwest Greenland that induce foehn winds in the northeast. Near low-elevation outlet glaciers, 80–100% of extreme (> 99th percentile) melt occurs during foehn conditions and 50–75% during ARs. These events have become more frequent during the twenty-first century, with 5–10% of total northeast Greenland melt in several recent summers occurring during the ~1% of times with strong AR and foehn conditions. We conclude that the combined AR-foehn influence on northeast Greenland extreme melt will likely continue to grow as regional atmospheric moisture content increases with climate warming.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyle S. Mattingly & Jenny V. Turton & Jonathan D. Wille & Brice Noël & Xavier Fettweis & Åsa K. Rennermalm & Thomas L. Mote, 2023. "Increasing extreme melt in northeast Greenland linked to foehn winds and atmospheric rivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37434-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37434-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicolaj K. Larsen & Laura B. Levy & Anders E. Carlson & Christo Buizert & Jesper Olsen & Astrid Strunk & Anders A. Bjørk & Daniel S. Skov, 2018. "Instability of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream over the last 45,000 years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhibiao Wang & Qinghua Ding & Renguang Wu & Thomas J. Ballinger & Bin Guan & Deniz Bozkurt & Deanna Nash & Ian Baxter & Dániel Topál & Zhe Li & Gang Huang & Wen Chen & Shangfeng Chen & Xi Cao & Zhang , 2024. "Role of atmospheric rivers in shaping long term Arctic moisture variability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. J. Haacker & B. Wouters & X. Fettweis & I. A. Glissenaar & J. E. Box, 2024. "Atmospheric-river-induced foehn events drain glaciers on Novaya Zemlya," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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