Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Contribute to Rapid Sea Level Rise, Say Scientists

New evidence links rapid sea level rise 14,500 years ago to icebergs breaking off Antarctica. 
Credit: Frank Roedel, Alfred Wegener Institute

Some 14,600 years ago, sea levels rose 6.5 feet in just a century, thanks to Antarctica's melting glaciers. It could happen again, say researchers.

livescience.com - by Becky Oskin - May 28, 2014

Antarctica's melting glaciers launched so many icebergs into the ocean 14,600 years ago that sea level rose 6.5 feet (2 meters) in just 100 years, a new study reports. The results are the first direct evidence for dramatic melting in Antarctica's past — the same as predictions for its future.

"The Antarctic Ice Sheet had been considered to be fairly stable and kind of boring in how it retreated," said study co-author Peter Clark, a climate scientist at Oregon State University. "This shows the ice sheet is much more dynamic and episodic, and contributes to rapid sea-level rise."

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CLICK HERE - STUDY - Millennial-scale variability in Antarctic ice-sheet discharge during the last deglaciation