CliC (NEG) Climate and Cryosphere Recent, current and planned activities Aike Beckmann

2 I. RECENT ACTIVTIES global climate studies with coupled ice-ocean models elements of interannual and interdecadal variability: ACWs, SAM, Antarctic Dipole, Weddell Polynya (AWI, UCL, NYU, TAMU) climate change scenarios (coupled AIO) (UCL) role of cryospheric components in Southern Ocean: - sea ice (AWI) - ice shelves (ISOMIP) - icebergs (BAS, AWI, more needed)

3 I. RECENT ACTIVTIES cont’d cryospheric processes and phenomena parameterization of vertical mixing beneath sea ice (TAMU, AWI) ice shelf-ocean interaction parameterization (AWI, UoH) sensitivity of sea ice-ocean system to the hydrological cycle (ice shelf melting, precipitation) (Jap) dynamical and thermodynamical effects of tides on sea ice (needed) coupled A-I-O simulations of (coastal) polynyas (more needed, two-component studies exist: I-O: AWI, MPI, CSIRO; A-I: Aus)

4 I. RECENT ACTIVTIES cont’d interdisciplinary, model development, etc. tracer (CFCs, Helium, Tritium, Neon) studies: (AWI) biology and biogeochemical cycles: (AWI; plans at UCL/ULB, ODU) ice model development: (UCL, UoH) paleo experiments A-I-O: (plans at UCL)

5 II. CURRENT ACTIVITIES Sponsoring of AOMIP Sponsoring of SIMIP2 Coordination for IPY to determine the present environmental status of the polar regions by quantifying their spatial and temporal variability to quantify, and understand, past and present natural and anthropogenic change in the polar regions, in order to improve predictions to advance our understanding of polar-global teleconnections, and of the processes controlling these interactions

6 III: PLANNED ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTATION OF CliC PROJECT AREAS (CPA) CPA1: The terrestrial cryosphere and hydrometeorology of cold regions CPA2: Glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, and their relation to sea level CPA3: The marine cryosphere and its interactions with high latitude oceans and atmosphere CPA4: Links between the cryosphere and global climate

7 CPA3: The marine cryosphere and its interactions with high latitude oceans and atmosphere What will be the nature of changes in sea-ice distribution and mass balance in both polar regions in response to climate change and variability? Observational data sets and re-analyses of oceanographic and sea-ice quantities Reduced uncertainties regarding past variability and trends in sea-ice coverage Improved understanding of water mass transformation in polar regions Improved model predictions of future changes to sea-ice cover in both hemispheres

8 CPA4: Links between the cryosphere and global climate What is the impact of changes in the cryosphere on the oceanic and atmospheric circulation? What is the likelihood of abrupt climate changes resulting from regime changes in the cryosphere? Improved regional and global models of high latitude climate Improved knowledge of cryosphere-related feedbacks to the rest of the climate system Understanding of the cryospheric processes that underlie global tele-connectivity in climate Better knowledge of abrupt climate changes associated with impacts of the cryosphere on the rest of the global climate system Clearer view on the role of cryosphere in global water, energy and carbon cycles

9 APPENDIX: ICED ICED brings together climatologists, oceanographers, biogeochemists, ecosystem and fisheries scientists to generate unique Antarctic circumpolar databases and models ICED is a natural descendant of recent global programmes with a Southern Ocean dimension: the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), which focused on the carbon cycle; GLOBEC, the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE); a number of programmes of CCAMLR; and the completed Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Systems and Stocks (BIOMASS) programme.

10 APPENDIX: ICED ICED addresses three globally important questions: how do climate processes affect the dynamics of circumpolar ecosystems? how does ecosystem structure affect circumpolar ocean biogeochemical cycles? how should ecosystem structure and dynamics be included in the development of sustainable approaches to managing exploitation?

11 The End Thank you.