TY - JOUR A1 - Zeitz, Maria A1 - Reese, Ronja A1 - Beckmann, Johanna A1 - Krebs-Kanzow, Uta A1 - Winkelmann, Ricarda T1 - Impact of the melt-albedo feedback on the future evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet with PISM-dEBM-simple JF - The Cryosphere : TC ; an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - Surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet contributes a large amount to current and future sea level rise. Increased surface melt may lower the reflectivity of the ice sheet surface and thereby increase melt rates: the so-called melt-albedo feedback describes this self-sustaining increase in surface melting. In order to test the effect of the melt-albedo feedback in a prognostic ice sheet model, we implement dEBM-simple, a simplified version of the diurnal Energy Balance Model dEBM, in the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). The implementation includes a simple representation of the melt-albedo feedback and can thereby replace the positive-degree-day melt scheme. Using PISM-dEBM-simple, we find that this feedback increases ice loss through surface warming by 60 % until 2300 for the high-emission scenario RCP8.5 when compared to a scenario in which the albedo remains constant at its present-day values. With an increase of 90 % compared to a fixed-albedo scenario, the effect is more pronounced for lower surface warming under RCP2.6. Furthermore, assuming an immediate darkening of the ice surface over all summer months, we estimate an upper bound for this effect to be 70 % in the RCP8.5 scenario and a more than 4-fold increase under RCP2.6. With dEBM-simple implemented in PISM, we find that the melt-albedo feedback is an essential contributor to mass loss in dynamic simulations of the Greenland Ice Sheet under future warming. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5739-2021 SN - 1994-0416 SN - 1994-0424 VL - 15 IS - 12 SP - 5739 EP - 5764 PB - Copernicus CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeitz, Maria A1 - Levermann, Anders A1 - Winkelmann, Ricarda T1 - Sensitivity of ice loss to uncertainty in flow law parameters in an idealized one-dimensional geometry JF - The Cryosphere : TC ; an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - Acceleration of the flow of ice drives mass losses in both the Antarctic and the Greenland Ice Sheet. The projections of possible future sea-level rise rely on numerical ice-sheet models, which solve the physics of ice flow, melt, and calving. While major advancements have been made by the ice-sheet modeling community in addressing several of the related uncertainties, the flow law, which is at the center of most process-based ice-sheet models, is not in the focus of the current scientific debate. However, recent studies show that the flow law parameters are highly uncertain and might be different from the widely accepted standard values. Here, we use an idealized flow-line setup to investigate how these uncertainties in the flow law translate into uncertainties in flow-driven mass loss. In order to disentangle the effect of future warming on the ice flow from other effects, we perform a suite of experiments with the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM), deliberately excluding changes in the surface mass balance. We find that changes in the flow parameters within the observed range can lead up to a doubling of the flow-driven mass loss within the first centuries of warming, compared to standard parameters. The spread of ice loss due to the uncertainty in flow parameters is on the same order of magnitude as the increase in mass loss due to surface warming. While this study focuses on an idealized flow-line geometry, it is likely that this uncertainty carries over to realistic three-dimensional simulations of Greenland and Antarctica. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3537-2020 SN - 1994-0416 SN - 1994-0424 VL - 14 IS - 10 SP - 3537 EP - 3550 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeitz, Maria A1 - Haacker, Jan M. A1 - Donges, Jonathan A1 - Albrecht, Torsten A1 - Winkelmann, Ricarda T1 - Dynamic regimes of the Greenland Ice Sheet emerging from interacting melt-elevation and glacial isostatic adjustment feedbacks JF - Earth system dynamics N2 - The stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet under global warming is governed by a number of dynamic processes and interacting feedback mechanisms in the ice sheet, atmosphere and solid Earth. Here we study the long-term effects due to the interplay of the competing melt-elevation and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) feedbacks for different temperature step forcing experiments with a coupled ice-sheet and solid-Earth model. Our model results show that for warming levels above 2 degrees C, Greenland could become essentially ice-free within several millennia, mainly as a result of surface melting and acceleration of ice flow. These ice losses are mitigated, however, in some cases with strong GIA feedback even promoting an incomplete recovery of the Greenland ice volume. We further explore the full-factorial parameter space determining the relative strengths of the two feedbacks: our findings suggest distinct dynamic regimes of the Greenland Ice Sheets on the route to destabilization under global warming - from incomplete recovery, via quasi-periodic oscillations in ice volume to ice-sheet collapse. In the incomplete recovery regime, the initial ice loss due to warming is essentially reversed within 50 000 years, and the ice volume stabilizes at 61 %-93 % of the present-day volume. For certain combinations of temperature increase, atmospheric lapse rate and mantle viscosity, the interaction of the GIA feedback and the melt-elevation feedback leads to self-sustained, long-term oscillations in ice-sheet volume with oscillation periods between 74 000 and over 300 000 years and oscillation amplitudes between 15 %-70 % of present-day ice volume. This oscillatory regime reveals a possible mode of internal climatic variability in the Earth system on timescales on the order of 100 000 years that may be excited by or synchronized with orbital forcing or interact with glacial cycles and other slow modes of variability. Our findings are not meant as scenario-based near-term projections of ice losses but rather providing insight into of the feedback loops governing the "deep future" and, thus, long-term resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1077-2022 SN - 2190-4979 SN - 2190-4987 VL - 13 IS - 3 SP - 1077 EP - 1096 PB - Copernicus Publ. CY - Göttingen ER - TY - THES A1 - Zeitz, Maria T1 - Modeling the future resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet T1 - Numerische Modellierung der zukünftigen Resilienz des grönländischen Eisschildes BT - from the flow of ice to the interplay of feedbacks N2 - The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second-largest mass of ice on Earth. Being almost 2000 km long, more than 700 km wide, and more than 3 km thick at the summit, it holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 7m if melted completely. Despite its massive size, it is particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change: temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet have increased by more than 2.7◦C in the past 30 years, twice as much as the global mean temperature. Consequently, the ice sheet has been significantly losing mass since the 1980s and the rate of loss has increased sixfold since then. Moreover, it is one of the potential tipping elements of the Earth System, which might undergo irreversible change once a warming threshold is exceeded. This thesis aims at extending the understanding of the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming by analyzing processes and feedbacks relevant to its centennial to multi-millennial stability using ice sheet modeling. One of these feedbacks, the melt-elevation-feedback is driven by the temperature rise with decreasing altitudes: As the ice sheet melts, its thickness and surface elevation decrease, exposing the ice surface to warmer air and thus increasing the melt rates even further. The glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) can partly mitigate this melt-elevation feedback as the bedrock lifts in response to an ice load decrease, forming the negative GIA feedback. In my thesis, I show that the interaction between these two competing feedbacks can lead to qualitatively different dynamical responses of the Greenland Ice Sheet to warming – from permanent loss to incomplete recovery, depending on the feedback parameters. My research shows that the interaction of those feedbacks can initiate self-sustained oscillations of the ice volume while the climate forcing remains constant. Furthermore, the increased surface melt changes the optical properties of the snow or ice surface, e.g. by lowering their albedo, which in turn enhances melt rates – a process known as the melt-albedo feedback. Process-based ice sheet models often neglect this melt-albedo feedback. To close this gap, I implemented a simplified version of the diurnal Energy Balance Model, a computationally efficient approach that can capture the first-order effects of the melt-albedo feedback, into the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). Using the coupled model, I show in warming experiments that the melt-albedo feedback almost doubles the ice loss until the year 2300 under the low greenhouse gas emission scenario RCP2.6, compared to simulations where the melt-albedo feedback is neglected, and adds up to 58% additional ice loss under the high emission scenario RCP8.5. Moreover, I find that the melt-albedo feedback dominates the ice loss until 2300, compared to the melt-elevation feedback. Another process that could influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet is the warming induced softening of the ice and the resulting increase in flow. In my thesis, I show with PISM how the uncertainty in Glen’s flow law impacts the simulated response to warming. In a flow line setup at fixed climatic mass balance, the uncertainty in flow parameters leads to a range of ice loss comparable to the range caused by different warming levels. While I focus on fundamental processes, feedbacks, and their interactions in the first three projects of my thesis, I also explore the impact of specific climate scenarios on the sea level rise contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet. To increase the carbon budget flexibility, some warming scenarios – while still staying within the limits of the Paris Agreement – include a temporal overshoot of global warming. I show that an overshoot by 0.4◦C increases the short-term and long-term ice loss from Greenland by several centimeters. The long-term increase is driven by the warming at high latitudes, which persists even when global warming is reversed. This leads to a substantial long-term commitment of the sea level rise contribution from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Overall, in my thesis I show that the melt-albedo feedback is most relevant for the ice loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet on centennial timescales. In contrast, the melt-elevation feedback and its interplay with the GIA feedback become increasingly relevant on millennial timescales. All of these influence the resilience of the Greenland Ice Sheet against global warming, in the near future and on the long term. N2 - Das grönländische Eisschild ist die zweitgrößte Eismasse der Erde. Es fasst genug Eis, um den globalen Meeresspiegel um 7m anzuheben, wenn er vollständig schmilzt. Trotz seiner Größe ist es durch den vom Menschen verursachten Klimawandel immens gefährdet: Die Temperaturen über Grönland sind in den letzten 30 Jahren um mehr als 2,7◦C gestiegen, doppelt so stark wie im globalen Mittel. Daher verliert das Eisschild seit den 1980er Jahren an Masse und die Verlustrate hat sich seitdem versechsfacht. Zudem ist das grönländische Eisschild ein Kippelement des Erdsystems, es könnte sich unwiederbringlich verändern, wenn die globale Erwärmung einen Schwellwert überschreiten sollte. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, das Verständnis für die Resilienz des grönländischen Eisschildes zu erweitern, indem relevante Rückkopplungen und Prozesse analysiert werden. Eine dieser Rückkopplungen, die positive Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung wird durch den Temperaturanstieg bei abnehmender Höhe angetrieben: Wenn der Eisschild schmilzt, nehmen seine Dicke und die Oberflächenhöhe ab, wodurch die Eisoberfläche wärmerer Luft ausgesetzt wird und die Schmelzraten noch weiter ansteigen. Die glaziale isostatische Anpassung (GIA) kann die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung teilweise abschwächen, da sich der Erdmantel als Reaktion auf die abnehmende Eislast hebt und so die negative GIA-Rückkopplung bildet. Ich zeige, dass die Interaktion zwischen diesen beiden konkurrierenden Rückkopplungen zu qualitativ unterschiedlichem dynamischen Verhalten des grönländischen Eisschildes bei Erwärmung führen kann - von permanentem Verlust bis hin zu unvollständiger Erholung. Das Zusammenspiel dieser Rückkopplungen kann zudem Oszillationen des Eisvolumens in einem konstanten Klima auslösen. Die verstärkte Oberflächenschmelze ändert die optischen Eigenschaften von Schnee und Eis und verringert deren Albedo, was wiederum die Schmelzraten erhöht – die sogenannte Schmelz-Albedo Rückkopplung. Da viele Eisschildmodelle diese vernachlässigen, habe ich eine vereinfachte Version des tageszeitlichen Energiebilanzmodells, welches die Effekte der Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung erster Ordnung erfassen kann, in das Eisschildmodell PISM implementiert. Mithilfe des gekoppelten Modells zeige ich, dass die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung den Eisverlust bis zum Jahr 2300 im moderaten Klimaszenario RCP2.6 fast verdoppelt und im RCP8.5-Szenario, welches von starken Emissionen ausgeht, bis zu 58% zusätzlichen Eisverlust verursacht, im Vergleich zu Simulationen in denen die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung vernachlässigt wird. Bis zum Jahr 2300 trägt die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung mehr zum Eisverlust bei als die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung. Ein weiterer Prozess, der die Widerstandsfähigkeit des grönländischen Eisschilds beeinflussen könnte, ist die Erweichung des Eises bei steigenden Temperaturen, sowie die daraus resultierende Zunahme des Eisflusses. In meiner Dissertation zeige ich, wie sich die parametrische Unsicherheit in dem Flussgesetz auf die Ergebnisse von PISM Simulationen bei Erwärmung auswirkt. In einem idealisierten, zweidimensionalen Experiment mit fester klimatischer Massenbilanz führt die Unsicherheit in den Strömungsparametern zu einer Bandbreite des Eisverlustes, die mit der Bandbreite durch unterschiedliche Erwärmungen vergleichbar ist. Neben den grundsätzlichen Prozessen und Rückkopplungen untersuchte ich auch die Auswirkungen konkreter Klimaszenarien auf den Eisverlust von Grönland. Um die Flexibilität des Kohlenstoffbudgets zu erhöhen sehen einige Erwärmungsszenarien eine temporäre Überschreitung der globalen Temperaturen über das Ziel von 1,5◦C vor. Ich zeige, dass eine solche Temperaturerhöhung den kurz- und langfristigen Eisverlust von Grönland um mehrere Zentimeter erhöht. Der langfristige Meeresspiegelanstieg ist auf die anhaltende Temperaturerhöhung in hohen Breitengraden zurückzuführen. Solche Prozesse führen zu einem langfristigen und bereits festgelegtem Meeresspiegelanstieg, selbst wenn die Temperaturen nicht weiter steigen. Insgesamt zeige ich in meiner Arbeit, dass die Schmelz-Albedo-Rückkopplung für den Eisverlust des grönländischen Eisschilds in den nächsten Jahrhunderten am wichtigsten ist. Im Gegensatz dazu werden die Schmelz-Höhen-Rückkopplung und ihr Zusammenspiel mit der GIA-Rückkopplung auf längeren Zeiträumen immer relevanter. KW - Greenland Ice Sheet KW - ice-flow modeling KW - sea-level rise KW - Grönländisches Eisschild KW - Computersimulation KW - Meeresspiegelanstieg Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-568839 ER -