Abstract We investigate implications of the recent change in basal melt rates from 93 Antarctic ice shelves from the 1990s to 2006–2016 (223 Gt yr−1 on average) on Southern Ocean climate using a fully coupled model. The most prominent response is significant increased sea ice coverage in the northern Amundsen Sea and decreased sea ice coverage in the northern Weddell Sea. The northern Amundsen Sea experiences sea surface and near‐surface atmospheric cooling and a strengthened Amundsen Sea Low, while the northern Weddell Sea exhibits warming and above‐normal sea‐level pressure. In the Amundsen Sea, both oceanic thermodynamic and atmospheric dynamical effects contribute to sea ice growth during the freeze‐up season, with atmospheric dynamics playing a dominant role during the melting season. In contrast, sea ice decline in the Weddell Sea is primarily driven by oceanic warming during the freeze‐up season and atmospheric circulation anomalies during the melting season.
Observations from the Little Bunker
Last updated: January 01, 2026 02:10 PM
Atmospheric CO₂
427.9 ppm
+18.1
ppm/year
Atmospheric CH₄
1930.95 ppb
+-3.5
ppb/year
Global Temperature
+1.48 °C
Peak: +1.73°C
World Population
8.1 billion
+67
million/year