Summary of EGU26 contribution by Feldmann & Albrecht et al
At the EGU 2026 General Assembly in Vienna in early May, an OCEAN ICE study by Feldmann et al. (https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5859) was presented by WP6 co-lead Torsten Albrecht.
The study reveals that the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets is far more sensitive to the rate of climate change than previously thought, especially when accounting for the Earth’s visco-elastic response beneath the ice. The authors show that rapid increases in ocean-driven ice-shelf melting can trigger "rate-induced tipping," causing irreversible marine ice-sheet retreat before the (bifurcation) tipping thresholds are reached, reducing effective tipping points by up to 60% in a simplified model setup.
While the Earth’s visco-elastic rebound (glacial isostatic adjustment) can stabilize ice sheets over long timescales, increasing its resilience to higher levels of melting, it cannot stop rapid retreat when tipping unfolds. The study highlights the role of involved response time scales in the interplay between ice and Earth, which explain dynamical phenomena like grounding-line overshoots and self-sustained oscillations.
These findings underscore that both the speed and magnitude of future warming will critically determine ice-sheet fate and highlight the urgent need to consider Earth’s dynamic response in climate projections and tipping risk assessments.
Albrecht, T., Feldmann, J., Klose, A. K., Wullenweber, N. K., Mojtabavi, S., Klemann, V., and Winkelmann, R.: Rate-induced tipping of ice sheets interacting with the visco-elastic solid Earth, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-9816, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-9816, 2026.
Summary of EGU26 contribution by Dr. Zhetao Tan
In May 3-May 8, with the support of OCEAN ICE, Dr. Zhetao Tan (ENS-PSL) had the honour to present his latest research on the "Growing Influence of Indian Ocean Waters in the South Atlantic Intermediate Layer over the last 30 years”, in the session OS1.6 (Physical, biological and chemical evolution of high-latitude oceans: from past to future). His talk focused on the fascinating process of "Indianification" in the South Atlantic intermediate layer and what these shifting water masses mean for our warming climate. More than 50+ people participated in the session.
Here, we focus on observational evidence of and investigate the underlying mechanisms driving the influence of Indian Ocean intermediate waters on the Atlantic Ocean in a warming climate. We examine AOU-salinity covariability across decadal to multi-decadal time scales within South Atlantic intermediate water. This analysis integrates high-quality observational databases of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and water age, as well as repeat hydrographic sections, allowing us to link their observed variability to changes in circulation and mixing, while considering oxygen disequilibrium effects and the influence of the biological carbon pump in changing AOU.
Tan, Z., McDonagh, E., Speich, S., Florindo Lopez, C., Davila Rodriguez, X., and Jeansson, E.: Growing Influence of Indian Ocean Waters in the South Atlantic Intermediate Layer over the last 30 years, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-6434, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-6434, 2026.
Article written by Zhetao Tan (Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique – IPSL) and Torsten Albrecht (MPI-GEA and PIK)