Ice Volume and Sea Level During the Last Interglacial

Abstract

More Melting The last interglacial period, around 125,000 years ago, was 1° to 2°C warmer than the present, and the sea level was thought to be 4 to 6 meters higher. However, Dutton and Lambeck (p. 216 ), now suggest that sea level was possibly as much as 10 meters above current levels. Such a large excess of seawater would mean that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melted much more than previously assumed, which has implications for how much sea-level rise we should expect with anthropogenic climate warming.