North Atlantic Cooling is Slowing Down Mass Loss of Icelandic Glaciers

North Atlantic Cooling is Slowing Down Mass Loss of Icelandic Glaciers

Noël, Brice (Universiteit Utrecht)
Aðalgeirsdóttir, Guðfinna (University of Iceland)
Pálsson, Finnur (University of Iceland)
Wouters, B. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy; Universiteit Utrecht)
Lhermitte, S.L.M. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning)
Haacker, J.M. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy)
van den Broeke, Michiel R. (Universiteit Utrecht)

2022

Icelandic glaciers have been losing mass since the Little Ice Age in the mid-to-late 1800s, with higher mass loss rates in the early 21st century, followed by a slowdown since 2011. As of yet, it remains unclear whether this mass loss slowdown will persist in the future. By reconstructing the contemporary (1958–2019) surface mass balance of Icelandic glaciers, we show that the post-2011 mass loss slowdown coincides with the development of the Blue Blob, an area of regional cooling in the North Atlantic Ocean to the south of Greenland. This regional cooling signal mitigates atmospheric warming in Iceland since 2011, in turn decreasing glacier mass loss through reduced meltwater runoff. In a future high-end warming scenario, North Atlantic cooling is projected to mitigate mass loss of Icelandic glaciers until the mid-2050s. High mass loss rates resume thereafter as the regional cooling signal weakens.

Blue Blob
climate projection
glaciers
Iceland
RACMO
surface mass balance

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:085aa691-f8d4-4494-bb94-314275b53035

https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095697

0094-8276

Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (3)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 Brice Noël, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Finnur Pálsson, B. Wouters, S.L.M. Lhermitte, J.M. Haacker, Michiel R. van den Broeke