ExtAnt: Drivers and Impacts of Extreme Weather Events in Antarctica

Start date: Feb 2024

End date: Jan 2028

Principal Investigator: Professor AC Maycock

CPOM Co-Investigators: Dr Sammie Buzzard (Northumbria University) and Professor Danny Feltham (University of Reading)

Project Goals

For this progamme ‘extreme weather events’ are any that have a direct impact, such as creation of surface melt.

Ice shelves are floating extensions of ice at the edge of a glacier or ice sheet where land ice melts and flows into the ocean. They are important as they act as a buffer between the sea and the ice sheet, slowing down the flow of ice melt into the ocean. If they melt, ice melt from the glacier or ice sheets flows more rapidly into the ocean impacting sea level rise.

ExtAnt’s will produce the first assessment of current and future high impact extreme weather events in Antarctic and the risks associated with them, including their effect on ice shelves.

This programme will shed light on the drivers of extreme events using new modelling resources and methods to quantify impacts of extreme events on surface melt of ice shelves, including the development of a dataset for supporting research into other impacts of extreme weather events, for example on Antarctic ecosystems.

Partner Institutions:

• University of Leeds (lead institution)
• Northumbria University
• University of Reading
• University of St Andrews
• University of Birmingham

Visit the ExtAnt website for more information.