Stability of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets coupled by the Atlantic ocean circulation

Anthropogenic climate change poses a challenge to the stability of current ice sheets. Rising atmospheric temperatures accelerate surface melting in Greenland. Increased ocean temperatures can lead to ice loss at the margins of Antarctica, with positive feedbacks facilitating further ice loss. Both processes impact the Earth System by leading to rising sea level, increasing temperatures through albedo feedbacks, and altering global oceanic circulation. Past records indicate that there is a bipolar interaction between the ice sheets of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres modulated by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) that could ultimately affect their individual stability. Could the future response of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets perturb the AMOC in a manner that changes their own stability landscape? Here we will present the first results of the future evolution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets as simulated with the ice-sheet model Yelmo coupled to a box model representing the oceanic circulation. We will show the coupled effects of the shrinking mass of the ice sheets on the AMOC stability and its feedback on the evolution of the ice sheets themselves.