Email communication: Dr. Paul Holland

June 30, 2017

…My 2015 paper showed that the surface of Larsen C was lowering, caused by both snowpack compaction and ice loss.  However, some recent results have shown that in recent years, this lowering has actually reversed.  We don’t know why.  So this is a very active area of research.
 
…The oceanography beneath Larsen C is extremely poorly known, and we have no direct evidence to rule in or out any ocean change or a change in ocean melting.  So this is a big uncertainty.
 
…We know very little about the ocean forcing of Larsen C.  We also know very little about the historical atmospheric forcing of Larsen C.
 
… I would emphasise that the climate of the west peninsula is not the same as that on the east peninsula.
 
..There are Automatic Weather Stations [on the Larsen C ice shelf] but their record is discontinuous.  I would say the record of air temperatures is poorly characterised, while ocean conditions are unknown.
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