About
DOMINO investigates how environmental change in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean affects key climate processes linking atmosphere, ice, snow, and ocean systems.
In a rapidly warming world, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (ASO) are undergoing profound environmental change, which has far-reaching implications for the global climate system. These changes have the potential to trigger cascading impacts that include (i) sea level rise due to melting of ice sheets and ice shelves combined with ocean warming, (ii) meltwater input altering ocean salinity, heat and carbon uptake, (iii) modifications of atmospheric circulation related to sea ice loss, with feedback on the snow mass balance and dynamics of the ice sheet with its glacier outflows, as well as (iv) physical and biogeochemical transformation in the Southern Ocean. The responses of atmospheric and oceanic circulation closely associated with these drastic changes have global implications. Thus, observed episodes of Antarctic ice shelf disintegration are expected to have significant short- to mid-term impacts not only on the ASO system itself but, more importantly, also on global climate. In addition, the dramatic reduction in sea ice cover observed in 2023 and 2024 may strongly alter atmospheric moisture sources for storms as well as the uptake of CO2 and heat by the ocean with potentially profound consequences for global climate.
DOMINO Research Clusters
The non-linear, multi-dimensional physical and biogeochemical systems of ASO are highly interconnected with the potential of cascading effects and tipping points. Processes at the interface between air, snow, floating and grounded ice, and the ocean represent key “domino stones” that regulate the interaction between climate compartments. However, these processes are largely under-sampled, and their variability under anthropogenic climate change is poorly constrained, making targeted observations urgent and timely.
This Flagship Initiative aims to design a multi-year observational framework focussing on these key “domino stones”, that is, cascading processes, with particular attention to extreme events affecting meridional and zonal exchange of heat, moisture and CO2 across climate system boundaries.
DOMINO Project Map
The principal investigators of DOMINO are Hendrik Huwald (hendrik.huwald@epfl.ch) and Franziska Aemisegger (franziska.aemisegger@unibe.ch)
