After 30 years of research, scientists have discovered that the interior of East Antarctica is heating up at an alarming rate. The trend is driven by changing ocean conditions in the southern Indian Ocean, which paves the way for warm air to penetrate deeper inland. The "heart of ice and snow" that was ignored in the past may have become the key to future sea level rise.
Relay Station, an unmanned weather station located in the interior of East Antarctica. This type of unmanned station is designed to withstand Antarctic temperatures below -70°C, revealing a major contributor to the warming of East Antarctica's interior. Image source: Naoyuki Kurita, Nagoya University
Hidden East Antarctic warming trend emerges
The team, led by Professor Naoyuki Kurita of Nagoya University, analyzed long-term temperature data from three unmanned weather stations (Dome Fuji Station, Relay Station and Mizuho Station) that have been operating in East Antarctica since the 1990s, revealing the new reality that the interior of East Antarctica is warming faster than its coastal areas. The study used monthly average temperature records from 1993 to 2022 to provide scientists with clear long-term climate trends in the "blind spot" region of Antarctica for the first time.
Professor Naoyuki Kurita at the Fuji Dome station in East Antarctica, where meteorological instruments collect climate data year-round.
The study found that the average annual temperatures recorded at the three stations have increased by an average of 0.45-0.72°C per decade over the past three decades, a rate of warming that far exceeds the global average. This warming process is mainly attributed to changes in the southern Indian Ocean, which change the atmospheric circulation and send more warm air to the Antarctic interior.
Data collection in extreme environments breaks through difficult problems
Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent on earth and stores about 70% of the world's freshwater resources. Previously, the limited climate records in this area mostly came from manned stations along the coast, while there were only four manned weather stations in the inland areas all year round, and only two of them could continuously provide long-term data - Amundsen-Scott Station (South Pole) and Vostok Station. The actual climate changes driving the vast interior have long been poorly documented.
Why existing climate models are underestimated
The analysis shows that existing climate models still fail to capture this rapid warming mechanism in the Antarctic interior, so current future temperature projections are most likely to be underestimated. Professor Kurita said that although coastal weather stations (such as Showa Station) have not yet observed a significant warming trend, due to the enhanced transport of warm air in the atmosphere over the past 30 years, it is expected that this warming and surface melting trend will soon extend to coastal areas.
A special tracked transport vehicle is traveling across the East Antarctic ice sheet to a remote inland scientific research station. Image source: Naoyuki Kurita, Nagoya University
The secret of the South Indian Ocean-East Antarctica linkage mechanism
Research points out that in the southern Indian Ocean, the intersection of hot and cold ocean currents forms fronts. Global warming has further intensified the temperature gap between these fronts, which in turn triggers more storms and atmospheric changes, forming the so-called "bipolar" phenomenon in the southern latitude atmospheric circulation: low air pressure in the mid-latitudes and high pressure over the Antarctic. This high-pressure area can instead pull warm air toward the hinterland of Antarctica.
Professor Naoyuki Kurita at the Fuji Dome station in East Antarctica, where meteorological instruments collect climate data year-round.
The response speed of the world’s largest ice sheet may be underestimated
Analysis of comprehensive data from weather stations confirmed for the first time that the interior of East Antarctica is heating up much faster than the coast, and the main cause was clarified. This finding has important implications for predicting how quickly the world's largest ice sheets will respond to global warming. In the future, Antarctic ice sheet changes may pose a greater threat to global sea levels.
Compiled from /ScitechDaily