New Study Points to Antarctic Sea Level Connection – Again
Sea Level suddenly rose more than 65 feet (20 m) in about four centuries — more than a foot a decade. That astonishing event happened over 14,000 years ago. A new study this week in the scientific journal Nature points the finger at Antarctica as the probable cause. It is rare for academic articles about something so ancient to get much interest. The story by Climate Central was picked up by mainstream media from London to Oregon, for good reason. It may shed some light on the modern rise in sea level that is now underway. Even five feet of sea level rise would be disastrous for most coastal cities.
The idea that the West Antarctic ice sheet is critical to catastrophic sea level rise is not new. What makes it easy to overlook is that it is a relatively small part of Antarctica, slightly more than 10% of that entire continent. But even 10% is huge when you realize how much water is locked up in the Antarctic ice sheet. If it all melted, global sea level would rise about 230 feet (80 m) causing an unimaginable disaster, even if it occurred over thousands of years. We can take some comfort from the fact that Antarctica has been frozen for approximately 30 million years. But it did begin a process of melting in the last few years, so scientists are paying particular attention.
It is worth noting that the interest in West Antarctica is not new. Back in 1968 a leading researcher suggested that is where the “big melt” would start to manifest. It’s fascinating, and if I may say “chilling”. Here is how I describe it in my book, which should be available this summer:
