Compound drivers behind new record high temperatures and surface melt at the Antarctic Peninsula in February 2022

IRINA GORODETSKAYA; CLAUDIO DURAN ALARCON; SERGI GONZALEZ-HERRERO; KYLE CLEM; PAOLA RODRIGUEZ IMAZIO; BENJAMIN POHL

Nature Climate and Atmospheric Science

Springer

Año: 2023

2397-3722

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) experienced a new extreme warm event and record high surface melt inFebruary 2022, rivaling the recent temperature records from 2015 and 2020, and contributing to analarming series of extreme warm events there. The northern/northwestern AP was directly impactedby an intense atmospheric river (AR) bringing anomalous heat and rainfall, while AR-enhanced foehneffect further warmed its northeastern leeward side. The event was triggered by multiple large-scaleatmospheric circulation and climate patterns linking the AR formation to tropical convectionanomalies and stationary Rossby waves, with an anomalous Amundsen Sea Low and blocking high.The cascade of impacts of this event culminated in widespread and intensive surface melt across theAP. Increasing frequency of such events can undermine the stability of the remaining AP ice shelves,with multiple local to global impacts, including further acceleration of the AP ice mass loss andchanges in sensitive ecosystems.