Calay News
A new study has revealed that more intense El Niño events could trigger a “double whammy” that would accelerate irreversible ice melt in Antarctica, increasing the risk of rapid sea level rise. The research, led by scientists from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, shows that future increases in El Niño intensity will lead to warming of the deeper ocean waters surrounding Antarctica.
Wenju Cai, the lead author of the study and an expert on the relationship between climate change and ENSO, has noted that climate change is expected to increase the magnitude of ENSO, making both El Niño and La Niña stronger. The study indicates that a stronger El Niño may accelerate warming of the deep waters of the Antarctic shelf, causing ice shelves and ice sheets to melt faster. In addition, warming around the edges of floating sea ice slows down during this process, slowing the melting of sea ice near the surface.
Ariaan Purich, co-author of the study “Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future” at Monash University, has indicated that the effects of increased ENSO variability affect changes in Antarctic sea ice, ice shelves and ice sheets and that this could have broad implications for the global climate system. Dr. Purich stressed the importance of continuing to understand how ENSO will respond to climate change, as much remains to be understood about the processes that influence shelf temperatures. This finding is an important piece of the puzzle to better understand how Antarctica will be affected by climate change.
