A new study reveals the massive West Antarctic ice sheet did not completely collapse during the last warm period, as prior modeling had suggested. The findings offer some hope for the future of the ice sheet as the planet heats up.
For the research, scientists analyzed a 2,100-foot ice core extracted from the western edge of Antarctica. The core contained a detailed record of a time, more than 100,000 years ago, when the region was around 3 degrees C warmer than it is today. In that warmer climate, the West Antarctic ice sheet had shrunk to roughly half its current size, while the adjoining Ronne Ice Shelf, which extends out into the ocean, remained intact.
“This information from the last time Antarctica was warmer than present day is crucial for predicting how and when the West Antarctic ice sheet will change under future warming,” said study coauthor Louise Sime, of the British Antarctic Survey. The findings, published in Nature, suggest the ice sheet may not completely collapse as the climate warms.
Still, even with partial melting of the ice, sea levels were several feet higher than they are today. “Although our findings are partly positive news,” wrote lead author Eric Wolff, of the University of Cambridge, “they also show that ice was still lost from the [West Antarctic ice sheet], confirming its vulnerability to warming in the future.”
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