Warm winds in autumn could strain Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf

New research shows that the Larsen C ice shelf — the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica — experienced an unusual spike in late summer and early autumn surface melting in the years 2015 to 2017. The study, spanning 35 years from 1982 to 2017, quantifies how much of this additional melting is due to warm, dry air currents called foehn winds that originate high in the peninsula’s central mountain range.