According to new research, led by Kyle Mattingly, a researcher at UW–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center – sometimes stretching thousands of kilometers, atmospheric rivers transport moisture away from the tropics to other parts of the world.

¨The Greenland ice sheet has seen an acceleration in glacial melt over the past 30 years¨, said Mattingly. “Our research shows the major impacts atmospheric rivers can have over the northeast part of the ice sheet.”

Greenland is covered by a 3,000-meter thick ice sheet that contains enough water to raise sea levels by 7 meters, or 23 feet.

For millennia, it has played a core role in regulating Earth’s temperature and climate, but that stability is at risk due to climate change.

Warming conditions begin with atmospheric rivers forming on the northwest side of Greenland and moving eastward, creating what are known as Foehn winds.

The winds commonly occur when moist air meets an elevation change like a mountain or the steep Greenland coastline.

According to Mattingly, the amount of moisture transported within atmospheric rivers is projected to increase in climate warming scenarios. This may increase melt impacts in northeast Greenland if atmospheric circulation patterns continue to favor atmospheric rivers tracking into northwest Greenland.

pll/rgh/lpn