Warming and Melting Mass loss from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica account for a large fraction of global sea-level rise. Part of this loss is because of the effects of warmer air temperatures, and another because of the rising ocean temperatures to which they are being exposed. Joughin et al. (p. 1172 ) review how ocean-ice interactions are impacting ice sheets and discuss the possible ways that exposure of floating ice shelves and grounded ice margins are subject to the influences of warming ocean currents. Estimates of the mass balance of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have differed greatly—in some cases, not even agreeing about whether there is a net loss or a net gain—making it more difficult to project accurately future sea-level change. Shepherd et al. (p. 1183 ) combined data sets produced by satellite altimetry, interferometry, and gravimetry to construct a more robust ice-sheet mass balance for the period between 1992 and 2011. All major regions of the two ice sheets appear to be losing mass, except for East Antarctica. All told, mass loss from the polar ice sheets is contributing about 0.6 millimeters per year (roughly 20% of the total) to the current rate of global sea-level rise.

A database of surface Antarctic snow isotopic composition is constructed using available measurements, with an estimate of data quality and local variability. Although more than 1000 locations are documented, the spatial coverage remains uneven with a majority of sites located in specific areas of East Antarctica. The database is used to analyze the spatial variations in snow isotopic composition with respect to geographical characteristics (elevation, distance to the coast) and climatic features (temperature, accumulation) and with a focus on deuterium excess. The capacity of theoretical isotopic, regional, and general circulation atmospheric models (including "isotopic" models) to reproduce the observed features and assess the role of moisture advection in spatial deuterium excess fluctuations is analyzed.

Decadal variability of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnection to the high-latitude South Pacific is examined by correlating the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-yr Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and observations with the Southern Oscillation index (SOI) over the last two decades. There is a distinct annual contrast between the 1980s and the 1990s, with the strong teleconnection in the 1990s being explained by an enhanced response during austral spring. Geopotential height anomaly composites constructed during the peak ENSO seasons also demonstrate the decadal variability.Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis reveals that the 1980s September-November (SON) teleconnection is weak due to the interference between the Pacific-South American (PSA) pattern associated with ENSO and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). An in-phase relationship between these two modes during SON in the 1990s amplifies the height and pressure anomalies in the South Pacific, producing the strong teleconnections seen in the correlation and composite analyses. The in-phase relationship between the tropical and high-latitude forcing also exists in December-February (DJF) during the 1980s and 1990s.These results suggest that natural climate variability plays an important role in the variability of SAM, in agreement with a growing body of literature. Additionally, the significantly positive correlation between ENSO and SAM only during times of strong teleconnection suggests that both the Tropics and the high latitudes need to work together in order for ENSO to strongly influence Antarctic climate.

Precipitation over Antarctica is an important climatic variable whose study has been limited by the frequent inability to discriminate between actual snow precipitation and drifting snow. Recent advances in point precipitation measurements promise to circumvent this problem. In addition, indirect estimates based upon t(h)•e atmospheric water balance equation provide seasonal precipitation amounts for areas larger than I xl km 2 . For broad-scale studies in the continental interior net snow accumulation closely approximates precipitation. Annual precipitation is relatively high over the marginal ice slopes in relation to amounts in the interior. This meridional distribution is due to the orographic lifting of moist air by the ice sheet. Zonal precipitation variations are related to the quasi-stationary cyclones in the circumpolar low-pressure trough. Most precipitation falls in winter, when the average moisture content of the air is low. The intensity of cyclonic activity is the key factor governing the amount of precipitation and its variations. Precipitation generation in coastal regions is strongly influenced by the fact that poleward moving, moist maritime air masses are deflected by the steep marginal ice slopes to blow parallel to the terrain contours. Direct orographic lifting with accompanying adiabatic cooling is the dominant precipitation formation mechanism inland of the l-kin elevation contour; intrusions of moist air far into the continent are accompanied by southerly winds through a deep tropospheric layer. Above 3000 m elevation where terrain slopes are gentle, radiative cooling is the primary mechanism by which saturation is maintained within moist air, and thus by which precipitation is formed. Most precipitation at these elevations falls from clear skies. This phenomenon does not differ from precipitation originating in clouds but is a direct result of the low moisture content of the air, and hence ice layers are optically too thin to be visible as clouds.

The relationship between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) is examined, with the goal of understanding how various strong SAM events modulate the ENSO teleconnection to the South Pacific (45°-70°S, 150°-70°W). The focus is on multi-month, multi-event variations during the last 50 years. A significant (p \ 0.10) relationship is observed, most marked during the austral summer and in the 1970s and 1990s. In most cases, the significant relationship is brought about by La Niña (El Niño) events occurring with positive (negative) phases of the SAM more often than expected by chance. The South Pacific teleconnection magnitude is found to be strongly dependent on the SAM phase. Only when ENSO events occur with a weak SAM or when a La Niña (El Niño) occurs with a positive (negative) SAM phase are significant South Pacific teleconnections found. This modulation in the South Pacific ENSO teleconnection is directly tied to the interaction of the anomalous ENSO and SAM transient eddy momentum fluxes. During La Niña/SAM? and El Niño/ SAM-combinations, the anomalous transient momentum fluxes in the Pacific act to reinforce the circulation anomalies in the midlatitudes, altering the circulation in such a way to maintain the ENSO teleconnections. In La Niña/SAM-and El Niño/SAM? cases, the anomalous transient eddies oppose each other in the midlatitudes, overall acting to reduce the magnitude of the high latitude ENSO teleconnection.

There is clear evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is contributing to sea-level rise. In contrast, West Antarctic temperature changes in recent decades remain uncertain. West Antarctica has probably warmed since the 1950s, but there is disagreement regarding the magnitude, seasonality and spatial extent of this warming. This is primarily because long-term near-surface temperature observations are restricted to Byrd Station in central West Antarctica, a data set with substantial gaps. Here, we present a complete temperature record for Byrd Station, in which observations have been corrected, and gaps have been filled using global reanalysis data and spatial interpolation. The record reveals a linear increase in annual temperature between 1958 and 2010 by 2.4±1.2 • C, establishing central West Antarctica as one of the fastest-warming regions globally. We confirm previous reports of West Antarctic warming, in annual average and in austral spring and winter, but find substantially larger temperature increases. In contrast to previous studies, we report statistically significant warming during austral summer, particularly in December-January, the peak of the melting season. A continued rise in summer temperatures could lead to more frequent and extensive episodes of surface melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. These results argue for a robust long-term meteorological observation network in the region.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) reanalysis (NCEP1) data are compared with Antarctic and other mid-to high-latitude station observations for the complete years of overlap, 1958-2001. Overall, it appears that ERA-40 more closely follows the observations; however, a more detailed look at the presatellite era reveals many shortcomings in ERA-40, particularly in the austral winter.By calculating statistics in 5-yr moving windows for June-July-August (JJA), it is shown that ERA-40 correlations with observed MSLP and surface (2 m) temperatures are low and even negative during the mid1960s. A significant trend in skill in ERA-40 is observed in conjunction with the assimilation of satellite data during winter, eventually reaching a high level of skill after 1978 that is superior to NCEP1. NCEP1 shows consistency in its correlation with observations throughout time in this season; however, the biases in the NCEP1 MSLP fields decrease significantly with time. Similar problems are also found in the 500-hPa geopotential height fields above the direct influences of the mountainous topography. The height differences between ERA-40 and NCEP1 over the South Pacific are substantial before the modern satellite era throughout the depth of the troposphere. The ability for ERA-40 to be more strongly constrained by the satellite data compared to NCEP1, which is largely constrained by the station observational network, suggests that the differing assimilation schemes between ERA-40 and NCEP1 lead to the large discrepancies seen here. Thus, both reanalyses must be used with caution over high southern latitudes during the nonsummer months prior to the assimilation of satellite sounding data.

Regional climate model runs using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesocale Model modified for use in polar regions (Polar MM5), calibrated by independent in situ observations, demonstrate coherent regional patterns of Greenland ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB) change over a 17-yr period characterized by warming (1988–2004). Both accumulation and melt rates increased, partly counteracting each other for an overall negligible SMB trend. However, a 30% increase in meltwater runoff over this period suggests that the overall ice sheet mass balance has been increasingly negative, given observed meltwater-induced flow acceleration. SMB temporal variability of the whole ice sheet is best represented by ablation zone variability, suggesting that increased melting dominates over increased accumulation in a warming scenario. The melt season grew in duration over nearly the entire ablation zone by up to 40 days, 10 days on average. Accumulation area ratio decreased by 3%. Albedo reductions are apparent in five years of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived data (2000–04). The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-derived albedo changes (1988–99) were less consistent spatially. A conservative assumption as to glacier discharge and basal melting suggests an ice sheet mass loss over this period greater than 100 km3 yr−1, framing the Greenland ice sheet as the largest single glacial contributor to recent global sea level rise. Surface mass balance uncertainty, quantified from residual random error between model and independent observations, suggests two things: 1) changes smaller than approximately 200 km3 yr−1 would not satisfy conservative statistical significance thresholds (i.e., two standard deviations) and 2) although natural variability and model uncertainty were separated in this analysis, the magnitude of each were roughly equivalent. Therefore, improvements in model accuracy and analysis of longer periods (assuming larger changes) are both needed for definitive mass balance change assessments.