CCNY Professor Foresees Rising Antarctic Snowmelt Marco Tedesco
Says Record Low Resulted From Simultaneous Positive Phases for
Two Climate Drivers The 30-year record low in Antarctic snowmelt
that occurred during the 2008-09 austral summer was likely due
to concurrent strong positive phases for two main climate
drivers, ENSO (El Niño - Southern Oscillation) and SAM (Southern
Hemisphere Annular Mode), according to Dr. Marco Tedesco,
Assistant Professor of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at The City
College of New York. Professor Tedesco, who is also on the
doctoral faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center, added that
Antarctic snowmelt levels should revert to higher norms as one
of the drivers, the SAM, subsides as the damage to the ozone
layer is repaired. His conclusions, which are based on space-
borne microwave observations between 1979 and 2009, were
reported in “Geophysical Research Letters” earlier this fall.
“The study’s goal was not only to report on melting but also on
the relationship between melting and the