INSTANT Conference Day 1
Advances and knowledge gaps in Atmosphere-Ocean-Antarctic Ice Sheet interactions
Day one of the INSTANT conference is dedicated to understanding the atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. We encourage abstract submissions on paleo to present ice sheet dynamics, with a focus on the role of atmospheric and oceanic drivers of Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) instability. Research themes can include (but are not limited to):
- Processes driving surface mass balance (SMB), including the role of sea ice, winds and atmospheric circulation from paleo to present.
- Drivers of oceanic heat exchange across continental shelves, and within and at the margin of ice shelf cavities from paleo to present.
- Present-day observations and glacial and geological records of Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and Southern Hemisphere Westerly Wind dynamics, and their role on paleo to current growth and decay of the AIS.
- The role of sea ice, polynyas and meltwater in controlling heat, carbon and salinity fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere from paleo to present.
- Feedbacks on the past to present evolution of the ice sheet and global climate system due to changes in freshwater flux.
- Paleo Antarctic ice sheet sensitivity to paleoclimatic fluctuations.
- Impact of Antarctic ice sheet instability, and atmosphere-ocean-sea-ice interactions, on human activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
The session is open to research exploring the feedbacks and processes driving ice sheet stability as captured in coupled climate and ice sheet models and model attribution studies. And how present-day observations, paleoclimate reconstructions and geological evidence can better support advances in numerical modelling. Data compilations and model-data inter-comparisons are especially welcome. Research can encompass different spatial and temporal scales, from local to regional and seasonal to multi-millennial. Multi-disciplinary approaches are encouraged. We encourage submissions from humanities and social science researchers.
INSTANT Conference Day 2
Advances and knowledge gaps in Solid Earth -Antarctic Ice Sheet interactions
Day two of the INSTANT conference will focus on understanding how the solid Earth and the ice sheets interact. We invite abstract submissions that explore the solid Earth’s structure, properties, and responses (e.g., viscoelastic and brittle), how past to present ice sheets and sea level are influenced by the solid Earth properties and its response, how the characteristics of this response may depend on the evolution of the ice sheets, and how the ice sheets reshape the solid Earth. Research themes may include, but are not limited to:
- What are the sub-glacial properties and processes relevant for past and present ice sheet dynamics?
- What is the relative strength of the feedbacks between processes associated with glacial isostatic adjustment and ice dynamics?
- What role do geological controls as well as erosion and sedimentation play on ice sheet dynamics?
- How do glaciological, geological and geophysical records inform us about the Antarctic ice sheets and regional to global landscape evolution?
- What are the recent advances in simulating the solid Earth’s response to the growth and decay of the ice sheets?
- Solid Earth insights into Antarctica’s contribution to past sea-level changes.
- Deep time, dynamic earth, and unstable ice sheets: the challenges of communicating scientific complexity, risk, and uncertainty
The session is open to research exploring the interactions of the solid Earth and the ice sheets. Data compilations and model-data inter-comparisons are especially welcome. Research can encompass different spatial and temporal scales, from local to regional and seasonal to multi-millennial. We encourage submissions from humanities and social science researchers.
INSTANT Conference Day 3
Integrating knowledge for improved understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet contribution to sea-level projections
Day three of the INSTANT conference is dedicated to the future response of Antarctic ice sheets to projected climate change and its contribution to regional and global mean sea level change. We encourage abstract submissions on climate, ice sheet, and sea level projections research. Research themes can include (but are not limited to):
- Thresholds and tipping points in the stability of ice shelves and grounding line migration.
- What can we do to reduce uncertainty and ‘shift’ low confidence projections to medium confidence on the long-term high-end sea level projections out to 2300?
- Feedbacks on the future evolution of the ice sheet and global climate system due to changes in freshwater flux.
- The impact of emissions mitigation scenarios on long-term response of the Antarctic Ice Sheets (i.e. projected response beyond 2300 – multi-centennial and millennial scale commitments).
- The influence of crustal response (GIA) on future Antarctic contribution to sea level.
- How do future regional variations in Antarctica’s ice sheet response influence sea level fingerprints to include impacts in the near and far field?
- How do paleo reconstruction help constrain Antarctic ice sheet contribution to long-term future sea level changes?
- Changes in hazards (e.g. coastal overtopping, coastal flooding, tsunami impacts) along the Antarctic coastline due to near field changes in sea level (rise or fall), sea ice coverage, and wave climate.
- Public, media and political engagement with Antarctic ice melt and sea level rise
The session is open to research that utilises knowledge gained through Days 1 and 2 to better understand and project future response of Antarctica’s ice sheets to anticipated climate change scenarios (including the SSPs) over a range of time scales. The session is also willing to explore and discuss research activities that help the polar community improve high-end projections that are of particular interest and concern to practitioners, policy makers and coastal communities around the world. We encourage submissions from humanities and social science researchers.
INSTANT Conference Day 4 – Melting ice and rising seas: telling stories, engaging audiences, and planning for the future
Day 4 of the INSTANT conference will be a symposium dedicated to connecting our Antarctic ice sheet research to communities with an interest in sea level rise, including city planners, coastal communities, Indigenous communities, journalists and more. This symposium will feature invited keynote presentations and an exciting panel discussion that brings together some of the world’s top climate storytellers and journalists. We expect this symposium to prompt and provoke discussion and allow the INSTANT community to explore new and effective mechanisms and opportunities to engage audiences with our Antarctic ice sheet and sea level research at a time when this work is more important than ever. Poster contributions to the symposium are encouraged on (but not limited to) the following topics:
- Application of sea level data and projections, challenges and improvements: How scientists, planners, engineers, and communities use sea level data and projections to plan for and adapt to the range of possible futures
- Public understanding of, engagement with, and concerns about, melting Antarctic ice sheets and sea level rise.
- Effective science communication: methods and approaches people (including researchers, policymakers, journalists, storytellers) are using to incorporate and translate Antarctic ice sheet science, data, and projections (including low confidence high impact storylines) to ensure they are better understood and used.
- Indigenous perspectives on climate change, sea level rise, and associated impacts. How can Indigenous knowledge systems help us understand and adapt to change driven from Antarctica?
While we only have time for invited oral presentations in this symposium, we strongly encourage our community to submit posters on storytelling, public engagement with science, sea level rise impacts, and coastal adaptation.
