Newly published research from College researchers Qinghua Ding, Eric Steig, David Battisti, and Marcel Küttel shows how warmer-than-usual sea-surface temperatures, especially in the central tropics, lead to changes in atmospheric circulation that influence conditions near the Antarctic coast line.  Anomalously warm waters set up westerly winds that push surface water away from glaciers lining the Amundsen Sea and allow warmer deep water to rise to the surface under the edges of the glaciers. Read the UW News story here; read the original Nature Geosciences article here.