Climate Variations and Changes in Mass of Three Glaciers in Western North America

Detection of a possible change point in atmospheric variability in the North Atlantic and its effect on Scandinavian glacier mass balance

“…Changes in the large-scale atmospheric variability of the North Atlantic, which were found to be consistent with changes in the temperature and precipitation series from Scandinavia, were also shown to be consistent with changes evident on maritime glaciers in Norway that have been demonstrating accelerated rates of increase in their cumulative net balance (Bn) since this period. Hodge et al (1998), in an analysis of climate variations and mass balance of three glaciers in western North America, also established that the year 1989 was a significant point after which there was a change in the relationship between climate and mass balance. Their research suggests that after this time, the glaciers under study not only started to display a coherent signal, but also demonstrated the highest rates of net mass loss over their entire records.…”

“…Their research suggests that after this time, the glaciers under study not only started to display a coherent signal, but also demonstrated the highest rates of net mass loss over their entire records. They suggested a breakdown of the large-scale teleconnection between the Pacific Northwest and the tropical Pacific since 1989 to a degree that it was no longer statistically significant as the probable cause of the changes they found in mass balance (Hodge et al, 1998). They also suggest that this breakdown may prove to be more important than the regime shift that occurred in the Pacific during 1976-1977(Hodge et al, 1998.…”

“…They suggested a breakdown of the large-scale teleconnection between the Pacific Northwest and the tropical Pacific since 1989 to a degree that it was no longer statistically significant as the probable cause of the changes they found in mass balance (Hodge et al, 1998). They also suggest that this breakdown may prove to be more important than the regime shift that occurred in the Pacific during 1976-1977(Hodge et al, 1998. Overland et al (1998) in their analysis of the decadal variability of the Aleutian Low also identify 1989 as a change point year, with a shift from low to average values occurring 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 Skjaak NI Index (Dec-Mar) Figure 14.…”

“…This change point identified in the Aleutian Low is preceded by a shift in the AO, which occurred in 1988 (Overland et al, 1998) with hemispherical-scale consequences. The scale and effect of this shift would suggest that it is as significant as that detected in the early 1970s, which resulted in changes in the Arctic summer ice cover (Chapman and Walsh, 1993;Maslanik et al, 1996), convection in the Labrador Sea (Rhines, 1994), climate-glacier interactions in western North America (Hodge et al, 1998), a statistically significant change in glacier regime (Dyurgerov, 2003) and a decline in cod recruitment in the Atlantic since the mid 1980s were linked to rising temperatures (Beaugrand et al, 2003). Also during this period, Mysak and Power (1991) found large positive sea ice anomalies occurring in the Greenland Sea, which had been preceded by above-average run-off from North America into the western Arctic.…”

Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Hydroclimatology of Western Canada—Review and Prospects

“…PDO-related variations in snow accumulation and melt can influence glacier mass balance both directly, through influences on winter balance (higher SWE creates higher winter balance), and also indirectly by influencing surface albedo (higher SWE leads to later disappearance of more highly reflective snow and thus later exposure of less reflective firn and glacier ice (Moore and Demuth, 2001)). In southern British Columba and Washington State, these influences produce a negative correlation between net mass balance and the PDO index (Hodge et al, 1998;Bitz and Battisti, 1999;Moore and Demuth, 2001). For example, mass balance in southern BC and the US PNW became more strongly negative following the 1976-77 climate shift.…”