If warming exceeds 2°C, Antarctica’s melting ice sheets could raise seas 20 metres in coming centuries

We know that our planet has experienced warmer periods in the past, during the Pliocene geological epoch around three million years ago. 

During the Pliocene, up to one third of Antarctica’s
ice sheet melted, causing sea-level rise of 20 metres.

Our research, published today, shows that up to one third of Antarctica’s ice sheet melted during this period, causing sea levels to rise by as much as 20 metres above present levels in coming centuries. 

We were able to measure past changes in sea level by drilling cores at a site in New Zealand, known as the Whanganui Basin, which contains shallow marine sediments of arguably the highest resolution in the world.

Using a new method we developed to predict the water level from the size of sand particle moved by waves, we constructed a record of global sea-level change with significantly more precision than previously possible. 

Read the story from The Conversation - “If warming exceeds 2°C, Antarctica’s melting ice sheets could raise seas 20 metres in coming centuries.”