Research

July 13, 2020 at 12:54 pm

OHIO News | Fogt, Clem Publish on Record South Pole Warming

Dr. Ryan Fogt at the Geographic South Pole

Dr. Ryan Fogt at the Geographic South Pole

The South Pole has been warming at more than three times the global average over the past 30 years, according to research led by Dr. Ryan Fogt, professor of Geography, and OHIO alumnus Kyle Clem,” Ohio University News reports in a story headlined “Ohio University professor Ryan Fogt, alum Kyle Clem publish paper on record warming of the South Pole.”

Fogt, professor of meteorology and director of the Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis, and Clem coauthored a paper with an international team of scientists published in the journal Nature Climate Change on the findings. According to the study, this warming period was mainly driven by natural tropical climate variability and was likely intensified by increases in greenhouse gas.

Clem, a current postdoctoral research fellow in climate science at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, is the lead author of the study and studied under Fogt for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Ohio University.

“I’ve had a passion for understanding the weather and fascination of its power and unpredictability as far back as I can remember,” Clem said. “Working with Ryan I learned all about Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere climate, specifically how West Antarctica was warming and its ice sheet was thinning and contributing to global sea level rise. I also learned that Antarctica experiences some of the most extreme weather and variability on the planet, and due to its remote location we actually know very little about the continent, so there are constant surprises and new things to learn about Antarctica every year.”

“From the very beginning, Kyle and I worked very well together and were able to accomplish more as a team than we were individually,” Fogt said. “We have published every year together since 2013, with one of our continuing collaborations being the annual State of the Climate reports. Our work on this project together each year ultimately led to this publication documenting the warming at the South Pole, however, most importantly for me, apart from being a fantastic scientist and collaborator, my family and I are both honored to consider Kyle one of our closest friends.”

Read more at Ohio University News.

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