Recent large increases in freshwater fluxes from Greenland into the North Atlantic

[1] Freshwater (FW) fluxes from river runoff and precipitation minus evaporation for the pan Arctic seas are relatively well documented and prescribed in ocean GCMs. Fluxes from Greenland on the other hand are generally ignored altogether, despite their potential impacts on ocean circulation and marine biology. Here, we present a reconstruction of the spatially distributed FW flux from Greenland for 1958–2010. We find a modest increase into the Arctic Ocean during this period. Fluxes into the Irminger Basin, however, have increased by fifty percent (6.3 ± 0.5 km3 yr−2) in less than twenty years. This greatly exceeds previous estimates. For the ice sheet as a whole the rate of increase since 1992 is 16.9 ± 1.8 km3 yr−2. The cumulative FW anomaly since 1995 is 3200 ± 358 km3, which is about a third of the magnitude of the Great Salinity Anomaly (GSA) of the 1970s. If this trend continues into the future, the anomaly will exceed that of the GSA by about 2025

Modelling the climate and surface mass balance of polar ice sheets using RACMO2-Part 2: Antarctica (1979-2016)

We evaluate modelled Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) near-surface climate, surface mass balance (SMB) and surface energy balance (SEB) from the updated polar version of the regional atmospheric climate model, RACMO2 (1979–2016). The updated model, referred to as RACMO2.3p2, incorporates upper-air relaxation, a revised topography, tuned parameters in the cloud scheme to generate more precipitation towards the AIS interior and modified snow properties reducing drifting snow sublimation and increasing surface snowmelt.Comparisons of RACMO2 model output with several independent observational data show that the existing biases in AIS temperature, radiative fluxes and SMB components are further reduced with respect to the previous model version. The model-integrated annual average SMB for the ice sheet including ice shelves (minus the Antarctic Peninsula, AP) now amounts to 2229 Gt y−1, with an interannual variability of 109 Gt y−1. The largest improvement is found in modelled surface snowmelt, which now compares well with satellite and weather station observations. For the high-resolution ( ∼  5.5 km) AP simulation, results remain comparable to earlier studies.The updated model provides a new, high-resolution data set of the contemporary near-surface climate and SMB of the AIS; this model version will be used for future climate scenario projections in a forthcoming study

Modelling the climate and surface mass balance of polar ice sheets using RACMO2-Part 1: Greenland (1958-2016)

We evaluate modelled Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) near-surface climate, surface energy balance (SEB) and surface mass balance (SMB) from the updated regional climate model RACMO2 (1958–2016). The new model version, referred to as RACMO2.3p2, incorporates updated glacier outlines, topography and ice albedo fields. Parameters in the cloud scheme governing the conversion of cloud condensate into precipitation have been tuned to correct inland snowfall underestimation: snow properties are modified to reduce drifting snow and melt production in the ice sheet percolation zone. The ice albedo prescribed in the updated model is lower at the ice sheet margins, increasing ice melt locally. RACMO2.3p2 shows good agreement compared to in situ meteorological data and point SEB/SMB measurements, and better resolves the spatial patterns and temporal variability of SMB compared with the previous model version, notably in the north-east, south-east and along the K-transect in south-western Greenland. This new model version provides updated, high-resolution gridded fields of the GrIS present-day climate and SMB, and will be used for projections of the GrIS climate and SMB in response to a future climate scenario in a forthcoming study

A nationwide survey on patient's versus physician's evaluation of biological therapy in rheumatoid arthritis in relation to disease activity and route of administration : the Be-Raise study

Objectives : Biological treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the cornerstones of current treatment strategies for the disease. Surprisingly little information exists on whether the route of administration affects patients' treatment satisfaction. It is equally unclear whether rheumatologists are able to accurately perceive their patients' appreciation. Thus, the Belgian Beraise survey aimed to examine whether RA patient's experience of their current biological treatment coincided with the treating physician's perception. Methods : A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted by 67 Belgian rheumatologists providing data obtained from 550 RA patients. Patients under stable dose of biologics for at least 6 months, were enrolled consecutively and all completed questionnaires. Separate questionnaires were completed by the treating rheumatologist which evaluated their patient's perception of the route of treatment administration. This study therefore evaluates whether a treating physician perceives the satisfaction with the route of administration to the same degree as the patient. Results : Completed questionnaires were obtained from 293 and 257 patients who obtained treatment via the intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) route of administration, respectively. 58.4% of patients were in DAS28-CRP(3) remission. Patient satisfaction with disease control was higher (44% scored >= 9) than that of the treating physician (35%), regardless of the route of administration (p<0.01). No differences were seen for the patients treated with an IV as opposed to a SC route of administration. The physician's perception of patient's satisfaction with disease control was markedly lower for IV treated patients as opposed to SC treated patients (p<0.001). Conclusions : Patients' satisfaction with biological treatment is high, but there is a considerable mismatch between patients' and rheumatologists' appreciation on the route of administration of biological therapy in RA. Physicians consistently consider IV biological therapy to be less satisfactory. Patient's appreciation is largely dependent on disease control, irrespective of the route of administration. Therefore, and encouraging shared decision making, we suggest that physicians and patients discuss the route of administration of biologicals in an open way

Significant Spatial Variability in Radar-Derived West Antarctic Accumulation Linked to Surface Winds and Topography

Across the Antarctic Ice Sheet, accumulation heavily influences firn compaction and surface height changes. Therefore, accumulation varies over short distances (25 km) that are too coarse to resolve this variability. To address this limitation, we construct a fine-scale accumulation product from airborne snow radar observations by superimposing along-track fluctuations in accumulation onto an atmospheric reanalysis product. Our resulting airborne product reflects large-scale (>25 km) orographic precipitation patterns while providing robust and unprecedented insight into Antarctic accumulation variability on subgrid scales. On these smaller scales, we find significant, regionally dependent accumulation variability ((sub relative) > 40%). This variability in accumulation is correlated with variability in topographic surface slope in the wind direction (p < 0.01), confirming that subgrid-scale accumulation variability is driven by snow redistribution by wind

Influence of Sea-Ice Anomalies on Antarctic Precipitation Using Source Attribution in the Community Earth System Model

We conduct sensitivity experiments using a general circulation model that has an explicit water source tagging capability forced by prescribed composites of pre-industrial sea-ice concentrations (SICs) and corresponding sea surface temperatures (SSTs) to understand the impact of sea-ice anomalies on regional evaporation, moisture transport and sourcereceptor relationships for Antarctic precipitation in the absence of anthropogenic forcing. Surface sensible heat fluxes, evaporation and column-integrated water vapor are larger over Southern Ocean (SO) areas with lower SICs. Changes in Antarctic precipitation and its source attribution with SICs have a strong spatial variability. Among the tagged source regions, the Southern Ocean (south of 50 S) contributes the most (40 %) to the Antarctic total precipitation, followed by more northerly ocean basins, most notably the South Pacific Ocean (27%), southern Indian Ocean (16 %) and South Atlantic Ocean (11 %). Comparing two experiments prescribed with high and low pre-industrial SICs, respectively, the annual mean Antarctic precipitation is about 150 Gt yr1 (or 6 %) more in the lower SIC case than in the higher SIC case. This difference is larger than the model-simulated interannual variability in Antarctic precipitation (99 Gt yr1). The contrast in contribution from the Southern Ocean, 102 Gt yr1, is even more significant compared to the interannual variability of 35 Gt yr1 in Antarctic precipitation that originates from the Southern Ocean. The horizontal transport pathways from individual vapor source regions to Antarctica are largely determined by large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. Vapor from lower-latitude source regions takes elevated pathways to Antarctica. In contrast, vapor from the Southern Ocean moves southward within the lower troposphere to the Antarctic continent along moist isentropes that are largely shaped by local ambient conditions and coastal topography. This study also highlights the importance of atmospheric dynamics in affecting the thermodynamic impact of sea-ice anomalies associated with natural variability on Antarctic precipitation. Our analyses of the seasonal contrast in changes of basin-scale evaporation, moisture flux and precipitation suggest that the impact of SIC anomalies on regional Antarctic precipitation depends on dynamic changes that arise from SICSST perturbations along with internal variability. The latter appears to have a more significant effect on the moisture transport in austral winter than in summer

Basin-scale heterogeneity in Antarctic precipitation and its impact on surface mass variability

Annually averaged precipitation in the form of snow, the dominant term of the Antarctic Ice Sheet surface mass balance, displays large spatial and temporal variability. Here we present an analysis of spatial patterns of regional Antarctic precipitation variability and their impact on integrated Antarctic surface mass balance variability simulated as part of a preindustrial 1800-year global, fully coupled Community Earth System Model simulation. Correlation and composite analyses based on this output allow for a robust exploration of Antarctic precipitation variability. We identify statistically significant relationships between precipitation patterns across Antarctica that are corroborated by climate reanalyses, regional modeling and ice core records. These patterns are driven by variability in large-scale atmospheric moisture transport, which itself is characterized by decadal- to centennial-scale oscillations around the long-term mean. We suggest that this heterogeneity in Antarctic precipitation variability has a dampening effect on overall Antarctic surface mass balance variability, with implications for regulation of Antarctic-sourced sea level variability, detection of an emergent anthropogenic signal in Antarctic mass trends and identification of Antarctic mass loss accelerations

Українська піснетворчість північно-західного Надкубання

Folk singing tradition of the Kuban especially its Ukrainian folk archive create one of the most representative spheres of the musical art of the Russian Federation. We made special expeditions in1990-1996 in order to collect Ukrainian folk songs of various genres in the historical living og Ukrainians in ex-Chornomorya lend. The collected materials can be divided into three types: epic, lyric, ritual. Among those types we figure out such genres: narratives, quazi-narratives, ritual songs of the calendar cycle, ritual songs of the family cycle, lyrical songs. All the collected texts are described in this article with the goal to show that they are functioning as a part of Ukrainian folk tradition within Russian cultural territory. The choir and individual singing are described as a sing of the state of singing performing tradition in contemporary Chornomorya. Authors give a detailed description of the particular performers, their styles and repertoire. Such deep research of the singing tradition of the Ukrainians living in Kuban gives the chance to look at these materials not only as cultural event but also like at the event social and historical meaning

Dynamical Interaction between Atmosphere and Sea Ice in Antarctica

Abstract Sea ice that covers large parts of the polar oceans throughout most of the year responds to changes in the atmosphere or the ocean within a short period of time. The rapid decrease of the Arctic sea ice cover in the past decades has led to a fundamental discussion of the role of sea ice in the climate system. Surprisingly, in contrast to the northern hemisphere, the sea ice in the Southern Ocean has been slightly increasing over the last decades. This is owing to essentially different processes that take place around Antarctica. There, the ice is not confined to a basin as in the Arctic Ocean but can move rather freely around the Antarctic continent which results in a strong response to changes in the wind field. In this Master&apos;s thesis I examined the impact of the variations in the coastal Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer on the sea ice. By studying wind driven sea ice transport in the Southern Ocean and temporal and spatial variabilities in the period 1989 to 2006, I have revealed important characteristics of the sea ice cover and processes that determine its growth and decay. The near surface wind field over the coastal continent and ocean as well as its forcing mechanisms were described in detail by using output from a regional atmospheric climate model. This showed strong relations to key parameters that I have deduced from a satellite record of sea ice concentration and sea ice motion. The regions of the largest sea ice extent, the Ross and Weddell Seas, are also those areas where most of the sea ice transport takes place and where its variability is the largest. Interannual variations and trends of transport are associated with varying sea ice concentration just north of these areas in the Ross and Weddell Seas. Comparing the wind field and the sea ice motion, I found out that spatial patterns of persistent southerly or south-easterly winds coincide with those of ice drift. The winds in these regions result from combined effects of the large-scale pressure distribution, cold air that accumulates over the ice shelves, and large topographic barriers that alter the flow. Adjacent to the large Ross and Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelves constant outflow of cold air takes place almost year-round. Here, sea ice is constantly exported from the coastal region, and large polynyas and leads form. As the cold winds not only lead to sea ice transport but also support refreezing of the open water, these areas are associated with strong sea ice formation. I have defined an index that captures the outflow of cold continental air from the ice shelves. The long-term variations in outflow correlate well with variations of the sea ice cover and meridional sea ice transport in the Ross and western Weddell Seas. Further, the results suggest that the positive trend of sea ice cover in western Ross Sea and the negative trend in the western Weddell Sea are related to a respective seasonal increase and decrease of cold air outflow. Overall, in my thesis, I showed that the dynamical interaction between the atmospheric boundary layer and the sea ice is a regional key element in the interannual variability and the long-term changes of the sea ice cover in the Southern Ocean