Print Email Facebook Twitter North Atlantic Cooling is Slowing Down Mass Loss of Icelandic Glaciers Title North Atlantic Cooling is Slowing Down Mass Loss of Icelandic Glaciers Author Noël, Brice (Universiteit Utrecht) Aðalgeirsdóttir, Guðfinna (University of Iceland) Pálsson, Finnur (University of Iceland) Wouters, B. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy; Universiteit Utrecht) Lhermitte, S.L.M. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning) Haacker, J.M. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy) van den Broeke, Michiel R. (Universiteit Utrecht) Date 2022 Abstract Icelandic glaciers have been losing mass since the Little Ice Age in the mid-to-late 1800s, with higher mass loss rates in the early 21st century, followed by a slowdown since 2011. As of yet, it remains unclear whether this mass loss slowdown will persist in the future. By reconstructing the contemporary (1958–2019) surface mass balance of Icelandic glaciers, we show that the post-2011 mass loss slowdown coincides with the development of the Blue Blob, an area of regional cooling in the North Atlantic Ocean to the south of Greenland. This regional cooling signal mitigates atmospheric warming in Iceland since 2011, in turn decreasing glacier mass loss through reduced meltwater runoff. In a future high-end warming scenario, North Atlantic cooling is projected to mitigate mass loss of Icelandic glaciers until the mid-2050s. High mass loss rates resume thereafter as the regional cooling signal weakens. Subject Blue Blobclimate projectionglaciersIcelandRACMOsurface mass balance To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:085aa691-f8d4-4494-bb94-314275b53035 DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095697 ISSN 0094-8276 Source Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (3) Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 Brice Noël, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Finnur Pálsson, B. Wouters, S.L.M. Lhermitte, J.M. Haacker, Michiel R. van den Broeke Files PDF Geophysical_Research_Lett ... aciers.pdf 4.86 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:085aa691-f8d4-4494-bb94-314275b53035/datastream/OBJ/view