About

David Bromwich is a Sterling Professor of English at Yale University, with a distinguished academic career that includes appointments at Princeton from 1977 to 1988 before joining Yale in 1988. His scholarly work encompasses a wide range of topics within English literature and political thought, with notable publications such as 'Hazlitt: the Mind of a Critic,' 'A Choice of Inheritance,' 'Politics by Other Means,' and 'Disowned by Memory: Wordsworth's Poetry of the 1790s.' Bromwich's research interests include the intellectual life of Edmund Burke, modern poetry, and the intersection of literature and politics. He has also contributed editions of important texts, including 'Writing Politics: An Anthology,' 'On Empire, Liberty, and Reform,' and 'The Turn of the Screw.' His articles and reviews have appeared in prominent outlets such as the TLS, London Review of Books, The New Republic, and the New York Review of Books. Bromwich has delivered lectures on topics such as wisdom, Lincoln as a realist, and the rhetoric of persuasion, reflecting his engagement with political philosophy, history, and literature. His ongoing work includes an intellectual biography of Burke, emphasizing his deep involvement in the study of political and literary history.

Research topics

• Geology
• Climatology
• Environmental science
• Atmospheric sciences
• Oceanography
• Physics
• Remote sensing
• Geography
• Meteorology

Selected publications

• Interior Antarctica is undergoing marked climate change

  Communications Earth & Environment · 2026-03-15

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  2024 is the warmest year in NASA’s 145-year climate record. Unlike the Arctic, which has experienced significantly faster warming than the global average, Antarctic temperature change is variable. Here we employ our observational reconstruction to show that although Antarctica has experienced warming on average, the long-term temperature trends exhibit notable spatial structure and reveal major disparities with CMIP6 models. Specifically, long-term observed warming is found in the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica, with modest cooling in parts of East Antarctica, particularly during austral autumn and winter. CMIP6 substantially overestimates the Antarctic warming similar to the global rate and maximizes over the Antarctic interior. However, average and extreme temperature observations demonstrate that interior Antarctica is experiencing marked climate change, paralleling the projected CMIP6 behavior but with reduced magnitude. Elsewhere climate change is happening in the northern Antarctic Peninsula and coastal West Antarctica but is muted along the East Antarctic coast. Interior Antarctica is nearing major climate change while the northern Antarctic Peninsula and coastal West Antarctica are already experiencing it, according to observational reconstructions and model simulations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Föhn-induced melting over Larsen C modulated by atmospheric river shape, direction and landfall location

  Nature Communications · 2026-04-03

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Recent decades have seen record-high temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) due to combined atmospheric rivers (ARs) and föhn warming. While ARs frequently enhance föhn, not all events cause surface warming over the entire Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS). Using high-resolution Polar WRF simulations, we examine the relationship between ARs and föhn over the AP during austral summers and identify four distinct AR shapes associated with föhn-induced surface warming over the LCIS: zonal-perpendicular, zonal-like, convex, and concave. Zonal-like ARs associated with coupled low-high-pressure systems and convex ARs linked to blocking highs produce strong föhn warming across the entire LCIS, primarily affecting its northern and southern sectors, respectively. In contrast, zonal-perpendicular and concave ARs generate moderate-to-weak warming, owing to either weaker AR intensity or AR curvature. Although downward shortwave radiation dominates surface warming, enhanced moisture suppresses its increase from föhn-induced cloud clearance while enhancing downward longwave radiation near mountain gaps. Sensible heat flux also contributes substantially along the mountain foothills. As ARs intensify under climate change, their interaction with föhn over the AP can critically influence the future stability of coastal ice shelves.

  PublisherDOI

• Introduction

  Yale University Press eBooks · 2026-01-06

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Antarctica’s uncertain future: global sea-level rise from oceanic and atmospheric forcing, with a focus on atmospheric rivers

  Frontiers in Earth Science · 2026-02-09

  articleOpen access

  Antarctic land ice stores the majority of Earth’s freshwater and carries substantial uncertainties regarding its future contribution to global sea level rise. While ocean processes associated with basal melting currently dominate ice loss, atmospheric forcing could have an increasing future impact, especially with intensified extreme weather events. For instance, atmospheric rivers, which are key drivers of long-distance moisture transport, introduce significant uncertainties to Antarctica’s ice mass balance, as they are capable of causing both intense snowfall and surface melting. They also impact ocean stratification and mixed-layer depth through freshwater input, ultimately affecting air-sea exchange. Associated interactions among components of the Earth system—atmosphere, ocean, and glacier—are not fully captured by global climate models and observations. This paper assesses Antarctica’s future, highlighting uncertainties stemming from limited understanding of atmospheric and oceanic forcings such as atmospheric rivers, and their consequences for projecting sea-level rise-related hazards.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of ERA5 Near-Surface Winds Over Antarctica: Spatial Variability, Biases, and Large-Scale Influences

  Journal of Climate · 2026-01-30

  article

  Abstract The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) is often used to support Antarctic climate research and as a primary training dataset for machine learning weather forecast models, making understanding its strengths and weaknesses essential. To determine any potential biases and errors within the reanalysis, an evaluation examining ERA5’s ability to represent the Antarctic near-surface wind regime, focusing on spatial patterns, seasonal variability, and long-term wind speed anomaly (WSA) trends. A continent-wide, terrain-stratified comparison of over 100 in-situ observations from automatic weather stations (AWS) and staffed station records at 3-hourly resolution is conducted. We find that ERA5 represents winds well over expansive flat terrain such as the Ross Ice Shelf. In coastal and mountainous regions, ERA5 underestimates wind speeds, with negative biases exceeding 1.6 m s −1 and RMSE values up to 4.4 m s −1 . Over the Antarctic Plateau it overestimates winter wind speeds by up to 0.8 m s −1 . Probability distributions reveal an underestimation of the frequency of high wind events (>12 m s −1 ) across all terrain classes. WSA trend examination indicates significant spatial variability with positive trends over Ellsworth Land that can be linked to large-scale climate drivers including the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Discrepancies exist between ERA5 and observation trends, indicating limitations in capturing localized variability. A comparison of ERA5 to the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) highlights the impact of higher-resolution representation of the near-surface winds, emphasizing the need for continued improvements in reanalysis datasets to enhance the representation of the Antarctic climate.

  PublisherDOI

• An updated reconstruction of Antarctic near-surface air temperatures at monthly intervals since 1958

  Earth system science data · 2025-06-27 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract. An updated near-surface temperature reconstruction for the Antarctic continent is presented for 1958–2022 (65 years) as monthly anomalies relative to 1981–2010 (RECON; Bromwich and Wang, 2024, https://doi.org/10.48567/efwt-jw56). It is based on monthly mean 2 m temperatures at 15 fixed stations that are spatially extrapolated to the entire continent using weights derived from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) and has a grid spacing of 60 km. Infilling of the fixed station records is performed where necessary to yield complete time series for 1958–2022. Variability and trends are tested at independent stations that have much shorter periods of record. RECON is designed for Antarctic climate variability and change applications for large spatial scales and extended timescales.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Recent increase in surface melting of West Antarctic ice shelves linked to Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

  Communications Earth & Environment · 2025-02-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Since the late 1990s, summer surface melt across ice shelves in the Ross-Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica increased significantly, as demonstrated by satellite measurements and MetUM simulations. This contrasts with the period from 1979 to the late 1990s, which witnessed a decreasing summer melt trend driven by the positive trend in Southern Annular Mode. The increase in summer melt since the late 1990s is linked to an increase in geopotential height and intensified anticyclonic blocking along coastal West Antarctica, which strengthened northerly winds over the Ross-Amundsen Sea sector, leading to enhanced advection of warm, marine air. Our analysis reveals a strong connection between summer melt indices and sea surface temperatures in the South Pacific Convergence Zone during this period. Moreover, increased summer precipitation in South Pacific Convergence Zone since the late 1990s strengthened the Rossby wave teleconnection toward West Antarctica, contributing to enhanced blocking along the coastal region. This is consistent with the transition of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation to its negative phase.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Skillful Polar WRF Cloud Modeling of a Warm Winter Atmospheric River at the Antarctic Peninsula

  2025-02-25

  preprintOpen access

  Atmospheric rivers (AR) are episodic events that can advect relatively large quantities of moisture to Antarctica, contributing to both disproportionate precipitation and melting events. The Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP-SH), an international effort to improve weather prediction over the southern polar region, presents an opportunity to study the clouds and precipitation associated with winter AR events. This study uses enhanced surface, profile, and remote-sensing observations from the Antarctic Peninsula during a Targeted Observing Period near 16 May 20202, when an AR event occurred with characteristics similar to a warm front. We compare regional atmospheric simulations with the polar-optimized version of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (Polar WRF) to various in-situ and remote-sensing observations. The study emphasizes data from three stations: Escudero, Vernadsky, and Rothera. Mixed-phase clouds were simulated at the three stations, with the precipitation being primarily rain at Escudero and primarily snow at Vernadsky and Rothera. The model produced reasonable simulations of the clouds and precipitation. Modeled longwave cloud forcing at Escudero well-matched observed values. A sensitivity test relaxing the hydrometeor concentration thresholds for secondary ice production indicates mixed-phase cloud sensitivity to the Hallett-Mossop process, especially at Rothera

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparison of Cloud and Radiation Measurements to Models Over the Southern Ocean at Escudero Station, King George Island

  Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · 2025-08-18 · 2 citations

  article

  Abstract Clouds and radiation play an important role in warming events over the Southern Ocean (SO). Here we evaluate European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5) and Polar Weather Research Forecast (PWRF) output through comparison to surface‐based measurements of clouds, radiation, and the atmospheric state over the SO during 2017–2023 at Escudero Station (62.2°S, 58.97°W) on King George Island. ERA5 mean monthly downward shortwave (DSW) radiative fluxes are found to be 38–50 W m −2 higher than observations in summer, whereas ERA5 mean monthly downward longwave (DLW) is biased by −18 to −22 W m −2 in summer and −16 W m −2 on average over the year. Comparisons of temperature, humidity, and lowest‐cloud base heights between ERA5 and observations rule these factors out as large contributors to the DLW flux biases. The similarity between observed DLW cloud forcing distributions for atmospheric columns containing low‐level liquid and ice‐only clouds suggests limited influence of cloud phase errors on DLW biases. Thus the most likely explanation for DLW flux biases in ERA5 is underestimated cloud optical depth, which is also consistent with DSW flux biases. Similar biases in ERA5 are found during atmospheric river (AR) events. By contrast, PWRF flux bias magnitudes are much smaller during AR events (−12 W m −2 for DSW and −2 W m −2 for DLW). After bias correction, ERA5 monthly average net cloud forcing over 2017–2023 is found to be a minimum of −107 W m −2 in January and a maximum of 65 W m −2 in June.

  PublisherDOI

• Observations of Clouds and Radiation Over King George Island and Implications for the Southern Ocean and Antarctica

  Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · 2025-09-15 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Clouds play an important role in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic surface energy balance via their radiative effects and in surface mass balance via precipitation formation. Here, we use measurements at Escudero Station (62.2°S, 58.97°W) on King George Island, north of the Antarctic Peninsula, to characterize clouds and their effects on the surface incoming radiation between 2017 and 2023. These measurements are unique providing 7 years of simultaneous cloud and radiation measurements, including year‐round observations. Cloud measurements using a mini micropulse lidar showed that clouds are present 96% of the time with persistent low‐level supercooled liquid‐containing clouds: 86% of the lowest cloud bases are within the first 1 km. Liquid was present about 80% of the time, and most liquid was supercooled: cloud‐base temperatures were below 0°C for 82% of atmospheric columns classified as liquid‐containing. Combining pyranometer and pyrgeometer measurements with clear‐sky radiative transfer modeling, we find that the downward cloud radiative forcing is negative during October–March and positive during April–September. For clouds with base temperatures below 260 K, downward longwave cloud forcing is found to be lower for ice‐only clouds than for liquid‐containing clouds; however, at warmer temperatures, both ice‐only and liquid‐containing clouds exhibited similar radiative forcing. During strong atmospheric river (AR) events, when long corridors of moisture bring heat and precipitation, surface temperatures are found to be positively correlated with downward shortwave (DSW) cloud forcing in summer, indicating that weaker DSW cloud forcing is linked to higher summertime surface temperatures.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Climatic Aspects of the Initiation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

  NSF · $420k · 2004–2009

• Type 1-L02170391: Collaborative Research: Atmosphere-Ocean Coupling Causing Ice Shelf Melt in Antarctica (ACCIMA)

  NSF · $375k · 2011–2015

• Investigation of the Contemporary and Paleo Climates of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

  NSF · $263k · 2007–2011

• Antarctic Climate Variability and Tropical Teleconnections

  NSF · $390k · 2008–2013

• Climate Warming in West Antarctica

  NSF · $510k · 2014–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Andrew J. Monaghan

  University of Colorado Boulder

  116 shared

• John J. Cassano

  Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

  74 shared

• Keith M. Hines

  The Ohio State University

  71 shared

• Jordan G. Powers

  NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

  70 shared

• Ying-Hwa Kuo

  University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

  55 shared

• Richard I. Cullather

  Goddard Space Flight Center

  53 shared

• Helin Wei

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  52 shared

• Sheng‐Hung Wang

  The Ohio State University

  50 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  1979