Climate evolution and cryospheric studies

INACH, Punta Arenas, 28-­‐29 November 2013 Climate evolution and cryospheric studies
Gino Casassa Geoestudios & Universidad de Magallanes, Chile IPCC 2013
CRYOSPHERE
IPCC, 2013
IPCC 2013
IPCC 2013
IPCC 2013
Tropospheric greenhouse gas rise
and the Antarctic ozone hole
Mayewski, 2012
OPPOSING POLES
October 11, 2012
“Two weeks after a new record was set in the Arctic Ocean for the least amount of
sea ice coverage in the satellite record, the ice surrounding Antarctica reached its
annual winter maximum—and set a record for a new high.”
NASA Earth Observatory
November 2013
UNIDAD DE GLACIOLOGÍA Y NIEVES, DGA, MOP
IPCC, 2013
Temperate ice
(T=@ melting point)
vs.
Cold ice
(T< Tm)
LARSEN B
ICE SHELF
COLLAPSES,
05 March 2002
http://nsidc.org/iceshelves/
EAIS vs. WAIS
NASA – Waleed Abdalati
Antarctica
without ice
“The Weak
Underbelly”
Source: R. Bindschadler, NASA/GSFC
Rignot et al., Science, 2011 SUBGLACIAL LAKES
McMillan et al., 2013
CookE2 Subglacial Lake
IPCC 2013
“If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be
Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare.
And yet it is something even greater;
the only place on Earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame
it.”
Andrew Denton (1960 –present)
D
Ice & climate
d
•  Ice sheet
dynamics
•  Paleoclimate
records
•  Sea ice & ocean
circulation
•  Atmospheric
dynamics &
chemistry
•  Ocean upwelling
& melting of ice
shelves
•  Ozone hole
Emerging
Frontiers
Scientific Research Programmes
Emerging
Frontiers
Scientific Research Programmes
Observing
Systems
Scientific Research Programmes
DISEÑO FÍSICO DE LA ESTACIÓN POLAR
CIENTÍFICA CONJUNTA EN GLACIAR UNIÓN
Área Residuos
• Solidos
• Líquidos
Área Vehículos
- Motos Sky Doo
- Carro BERCO
- Carro Prinorth
- Tren BERCO
Área Mantenimiento
y Apoyo
- Talleres
- Equipo
- Aeronáutico
- Mantención
Área Científico
- Instrumental
- Almacenaje
Área de Mando y
Operaciones
Mando – Control,
Coordinación y
Comunicaciones
Op. Terrestres
Op. Aéreas
Meteorología,
Glaciología
Geodesia
Área Habitacional
Hasta 50 personas
Área Energía
- Eléctrica
- Solar
- Gas
Área Abastecimiento
- Cocina
- Bodega de víveres
- Alimentación
- Comedor
- Distracción
Área Sanidad
- Salud Humana
- Medio Ambiente
Orion P3 Chilean Navy
2002-2004-2008
Northern
Patagonia Icefield
Southern
Patagonia Icefield
ula
rctic
Anta
Be
ea
ns
Pen
ins
se
au
h
gs
llin
Pine Island Glacier
Thwaites
glacier
SOUTH POLE 2004
Clima de AntárIca y Sud América (CASA) Extracción conjunta Brasil-­‐Chile-­‐Estados Unidos de tesIgo de hielo en el Plateau Detroit, Península Climate of the Antarctic and South America (CASA)
AntárIca. Joint Brazilian-Chilean-US ice core drilling on the Detroit Plateau,Antarctic Peninsula
Clima Antártico e Sul-Americano (CASA)
Operação conjunta Brasil-Chile-EUA para testemunhagem do gelo no Platô Detroit, Península Antártica
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Climate Change Ins.tute, University of Maine Ins.tuto Antár.co Chileno (INACH) Núcleo de Pesquisas Antár.cas e Climá.cas (NUPAC), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) Dirección de Programas Antár.cos, Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG) Fundación Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario (CEQUA) Ins.tuto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, INPE, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil Observatorio Nacional, CNPq, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Fuerza Aérea de Chile (FACH) CONCLUSIONS
1.  Although EAIS is cooling and gaining mass, in the last few years
Antarctica as a whole is losing ice and contributing to sea level
rise, especially the AP & the Amundsen Sea region of the WAIS.
2.  Future scenarios of climate change, particularly after 2030-2050
when the stratospheric ozone recovers, will most likely result in
an amplification of the impacts of ice melt such as sea level rise.
3.  Chile has contributed and can continue to contribute relevantly to
the knowledge of Antarctic glaciology, not only in the Antarctic
Península but also in the periphery and the inland ice.
4.  Younger researchers in several research groups along Chile have
started to make a valuable contribution.
4.  International collaboration has proved to be extremely fruitful.
5.  Chilean logistics in support of science need to be strengthened.
6.  Antarctic-subantarctic comparative studies are much needed to
better understand the system (SSA-AP).
7.  Long-term monitoring studies need to be performed (& funded!)