Mountain glaciers recouple to atmospheric warming over the twenty-first century

Abstract Recent studies have argued that air temperatures over many mountain glaciers are decoupled from their surroundings, leading to a local cooling which could slow down melting. Here we use a compilation of on-glacier meteorological observations to assess the extent to which this relationship changes under warming. Statistical modelling of the potential temperature decoupling of the world’s mountain glaciers indicates that currently glacier boundary layers warm ~0.83 °C on average for every degree of ambient temperature rise. Future projections under shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) climate scenarios SSP 2-4.5 and SSP 5-8.5 indicate that decoupling, and thus relative cooling over glaciers, is maximized during the 2020s and 2030s, before widespread glacier retreat acts to recouple above-glacier air temperatures with its surroundings. This nonlinear feedback will lead to an increased sensitivity to warming from midcentury, with glaciers losing their capacity to affect the local climate and cool themselves.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature Climate Change
Published
2025-10-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02449-0
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Cryospheric studies and observations
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.90

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Mountain glaciers recouple to atmospheric warming over the twenty-first century

Pascal Buri, Evan Miles, Ben Brock, Francesca Pellicciotti et al.
3 citations
Nature Climate Change
Cryospheric studies and observations
3.90
article

Mountain glaciers recouple to atmospheric warming over the twenty-first century

Pascal Buri, Evan Miles, Ben Brock, Francesca Pellicciotti, Franco Salerno, Nicolas Guyennon, Michael McCarthy, Luca Carturan, Thomas E. Shaw
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies have argued that air temperatures over many mountain glaciers are decoupled from their surroundings, leading to a local cooling which could slow down melting. Here we use a compilation of on-glacier meteorological observations to assess the extent to which this relationship changes under warming. Statistical modelling of the potential temperature decoupling of the world’s mountain glaciers indicates that currently glacier boundary layers warm ~0.83 °C on average for every degree of ambient temperature rise. Future projections under shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) climate scenarios SSP 2-4.5 and SSP 5-8.5 indicate that decoupling, and thus relative cooling over glaciers, is maximized during the 2020s and 2030s, before widespread glacier retreat acts to recouple above-glacier air temperatures with its surroundings. This nonlinear feedback will lead to an increased sensitivity to warming from midcentury, with glaciers losing their capacity to affect the local climate and cool themselves.

Nature Climate ChangeVol. 15(11)
University of Padua (IT), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Fribourg (CH), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT), University of Zurich (CH), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), Northumbria University (GB), Water Research Institute (IT), National Research Council (RO), National Research Council (IT)
National Science Foundation, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, European Commission, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Cryospheric studies and observations
3.90
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.