Time‐dependent freshwater input from ice shelves: Impacts on Antarctic sea ice and the Southern Ocean in an Earth System Model

Geophysical Research Letters (2017)

We investigate the response of sea ice to increasing freshwater input from ice shelves using the Community Earth System Model with the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 [CESM1(CAM5)].

We conducted model experiments adding fresh water with a linear increase in the rate of input over the period 1980–2013. Including ocean heat loss effects resulted in significantly more positive trends in sea ice area. Increasing the rate of change of freshwater input was sufficient to offset the negative trend in sea ice area in CESM1(CAM5), although the freshwater input by the end of the experiment was larger than observed at that time.