Plenary Speaker : Physical Sciences
Dr. Thomas Bracegirdle
British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
Biodata : Dr Thomas Bracegirdle currently works as a Research Scientist at British Antarctic Survey. He is the leader of the Polar Climate and Prediction Group at the British Antarctic Survey. Dr Bracegirdle currently is the joint chief officer of the International Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Scientific Research Programme ‘Near-term Variability and Prediction of the Antarctic Climate System’ (AntClimnow). He also is a member of the SCAR Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System (SCATS), which provides climate-related advice on Antarctic Treaty papers.
2006-present - British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK.2002-2006 - University of Reading, PhD in Meteorology on “The role of convection in the intensification of polar lows”.
International science coordination and policy
Winds of change: the past and future of winds over the Southern Ocean and Antarctica
Abstract : Climate models simulate a robust poleward shift and strengthening of the main eddy-driven belt of Southern Hemisphere (SH) mid-latitude near-surface westerly winds (hereinafter referred to as the ‘westerly jet’ or ‘jet’) in response to future scenarios of increased greenhouse gas concentrations. Such changes have wide-reaching implications both regionally and globally relating to impacts on, for example, uptake of thermal energy and CO2 in the Southern Ocean and ice-ocean interactions around Antarctica. However, there is a larger inter-model spread in the magnitude of jet responses.
In this talk, recent research will be discussed, which demonstrates the importance of coupled atmosphere/ocean/sea-ice interactions in influencing future wind changes. Specific regions around Antarctica of particular interest for considering impacts on the Antarctic cryosphere (sea ice, ice shelves and land ice) will be discussed. Recent advances in climate modelling will be summarised, along with major outstanding challenges for future research.
