Study key findings & significance

• We present historical, continent-wide, mosaics of Antarctic ice motion using a suite of satellite sensors spanning 28 years

• We report areas of accelerated flow stretching over 100 km's from the coast and the entire drainage of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector

• The observed, ongoing, detailed glacier changes will help constrain ice sheet numerical models in charge of reconstruction and projection

Significance

Storms and extreme weather events are stronger in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. Using an energetic perspective, observations, and climate model simulations, we show that the stormier Southern Hemisphere is induced by topography and the ocean circulation, which transports energy from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere. We also show that the recent increase in Southern Hemisphere storminess is connected to changes in implied ocean energy transport in the Southern Ocean.

Significance

Extreme weather events rarely occur but can have devastating impacts. This paper introduces an analysis method that determines whether one-in-a-hundred-years events are becoming more frequent. Based on a 41-y record in the continental United States, the change in frequency of extreme temperature events is determined with statistical confidence. We found it is possible to aggregate extreme event data over geographical locations with different climate zones so that meaningful inference is possible.