Atmospheric shifts accelerate Patagonian glacier loss, contributing to sea-level rise

Why are Patagonian glaciers rapidly losing mass?

Over the past two decades, satellite-based planetary observations have recorded rapid mass loss of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm per year to global sea-level rise. A study links this mass loss to a poleward shift of subtropical high-pressure systems. This large-scale atmospheric circulation change brings more warm air to Patagonia, thereby accelerating glacier melt.

Atmospheric shifts accelerate Patagonian glacier loss, contributing to sea-level rise

Over the past two decades, satellite-based planetary observations have recorded rapid mass loss of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm per year to global sea-level rise. A study published in Nature Communications links this mass loss to a poleward shift of subtropical high-pressure systems. This large-scale atmospheric circulation change brings more warm air to Patagonia, thereby accelerating glacier melt.

MADRID 24 Apr. (EUROPA PRESS). – At the current rate of mass loss, new research projects that Patagonian glaciers could disappear in the next 250 years. Over the past two decades, satellite planetary observations have recorded a rapid loss of mass of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm annually to the global rise in sea level. A study published in Nature Communications links this loss of mass to a displacement towards the pol…

Located in the southernmost region of South America, Patagonia hosts the largest glacial system in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica. Its three main ice fields —the North (NPI), the...

Over the past two decades, planetary satellite observations have recorded a rapid loss of Patagonia glacier mass, contributing about 0.07 mm per year to the global rise in sea level. A study published in Nature Communications links this loss of mass to a shift towards the pole [...]