Maria Vittoria Guarino
Schede primarie
I am an atmospheric scienitst and numerical modeller.
I study the atmosphere (lower and upper layers) and the coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean system. I am particularly interested in atmospheric gravity waves, and the large scale coupling between the atmosphere and the ocean.
My studies mostly focus on Antarctica. I study the coupling between atmosphere and ocean via sea ice. In particular, I am interested in how sea ice is affected by changes in the parameterised orographic gravity wave drag in current climate models.
On the topics of gravity wave modelling and climate in the polar regions I collaborate with researchers across various international institutions, among these: UK Met Office, British Antarctic Survey, University of Leeds.
My webpages
NEWS
May 2026, Media Round-Up for Our Study on Changing Atmospheric Stability over Antarctica
Our study, published in January in Journal of Climate, provides the first observational evidence that Antarctic warming has weakened the near-surface atmospheric stability since the 1950s, leading to a shift from blocked to flow-over conditions across the Antarctic Peninsula. This transition has increased the generation of mountain gravity waves and may have important implications for Antarctic weather, sea ice, and the wider Southern Hemisphere climate.
To learn more about the study, see ENEA press release (IT and EN).
I am delighted to share that the study was covered by a range of scientific news platforms and international media, including:
- AMS Early Online Highlights, distributed via EurekAlert!
- Monthly research roundup by Skeptical Science
- Phys.org
- Italian national media and outlets, including Il Sole 24 Ore, Corriere della Sera, and Geopop.
December 2025 New Paper Out
A long-term shift in flow regimes over the Antarctic Peninsula, published in Journal of Climate.
In this work, we present consequences of Antarctic surface warming for the stability of the lower atmosphere since the 1950s. We show that the surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Peninsula has become less stable, and that this reduced stability favors the generation of atmospheric gravity waves from the Peninsula, one of the major sources of atmospheric waves on the planet. We provide a physically based explanation (i.e., a shift in flow regimes) for the increased gravity wave forcing that we find in an unprecedented set of reanalysis products, satellite observations, and model simulations, and that we present here for the first time. Gravity wave forcing changes can have profound ramifications for the global climate, from polar vortex strength to ozone depletion and midlatitude weather.
Reference and link to paper:
Guarino, M.V., Ridley, J. K., Colwell, S., Farneti, R., Giuliani, G., Hindley, N., King, J., Kucharski, F., Polichtchouk, I., Tompkins, A. M., Vignon, É., & Wright, C. (2026). A Long-Term Shift in Flow Regimes over the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Climate, 39(2), 749-767. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0330.1
26 February 2025 PodCast "Alla Ricerca"
Science Podcast entitled "Da Trieste al Polo Sud" ("From Trieste to the South Pole") produced by Italian National Radio Service RAI and SISSA, in collaboration with ICTP.
In the podcats, we discuss Antarctica - why does it matter?, and climate models- what can they tell us about the past and future of Earth's climate?
LINK to Podcast (Italian only): Here
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