AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

A doubling in snow accumulation in the western Antarctic Peninsula since 1850

The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a dramatic change in climate over the past 50 years (the period of observational record), with annual temperatures increasing and many ice shelves on the fringes of the peninsula disintegrating. Despite this, some records from the peninsula show that the number of days with snowfall has increased by at least 62 days since 1950. To extend knowledge of climate dynamics beyond the 50-year observation record, Thomas et al. (2008) analyzed data from a new ice core drilled at Gomez, a site of high snow accumulation on the Antarctic Peninsula. On the basis of these data, the authors found that snow accumulation has doubled since the 1850s, representing the largest increase observed across the region. Through comparing Gomez records with the behavior of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), a dominant cycle of atmospheric variability in the Southern Hemisphere, the authors suggest that SAM circulation patterns have shifted to bring warm moist air to the region, causing an increase in snow accumulation as this air cools.

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