Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What's making Larsen C melt? How important are the individual factors contributing to change in the polar regions? How do we know, and what does it mean for climate change? Watch to find out....
This is a scientific talk I gave at the British Antarctic Survey in October 2020 talking about my PhD work.
For the nerds:
Abstract
The Larsen C ice shelf is the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula and a focus of attention following the collapses of the neighbouring Larsen A and B ice shelves in 1995 and 2002, respectively. Atmospheric processes, which caused increased rates of surface melting, ponding and hydrofracturing, were implicated in these disintegrations and are the same as those occurring over Larsen C. These are quantified for the first time using a high-resolution regional model hindcast of the period 1998-2017 produced using the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM). It is the first multi-decadal model hindcast capable of resolving the complex dynamics that produce observed surface melt patterns. This talk will quantify the effect of the dominant atmospheric processes that produce these melt patterns and discuss the implications for the future of the Larsen C.
What's making Larsen C melt? How important are the individual factors contributing to change in the polar regions? How do we know, and what does it mean for climate change? Watch to find out....
This is a scientific talk I gave at the British Antarctic Survey in October 2020 talking about my PhD work.
For the nerds:
Abstract
The Larsen C ice shelf is the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula and a focus of attention following the collapses of the neighbouring Larsen A and B ice shelves in 1995 and 2002, respectively. Atmospheric processes, which caused increased rates of surface melting, ponding and hydrofracturing, were implicated in these disintegrations and are the same as those occurring over Larsen C. These are quantified for the first time using a high-resolution regional model hindcast of the period 1998-2017 produced using the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM). It is the first multi-decadal model hindcast capable of resolving the complex dynamics that produce observed surface melt patterns. This talk will quantify the effect of the dominant atmospheric processes that produce these melt patterns and discuss the implications for the future of the Larsen C.
