More than 100,000 years ago , spherical sea levels resurrect an estimated 6 to 9 meters ( 20 to 30 feet ) higher than today , with as much as half of that derived from Greenland ’s ice sheet thawing – an result we may see in today ’s world give the current country of our speedily change climate .
Using maritime and terrestrial geological archive , research worker have make a century - by - century timeline of climatic conditions throughout the last 100,000 age . These evince that after an other period of peak warmth , some centuries during the Last Interglacial ( between 129,000 and 116,000 year ago ) were much warmer than others , lead in southerly Europe go through dry spells and frigid water spreading through the North Atlantic . This led to a comparatively precarious climate that saw “ abrupt ” change in oceanic current , rain , and methamphetamine melting .
“ We know from independent evidence that part of the Greenland frosting bed sheet melted during the LIG , contributing higher mean global sea stratum than present , ” lead source Chronis Tzedakis , from University College London , tell apart IFLScience .
base on these mood model experiments , Tzedakis suggests Greenland ’s glass - melting and runoff could have contribute to a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation ( AMOC ) , in the end create a cooling effect in the North Atlantic and an arid climate in southern Europe .
AMOC is a scheme of ocean electric current in the North Atlantic that act as a conveyer smash to move urine and strain , essentially influencing weather systems . Previousresearchindicates clime change is slack down the Atlantic ’s sea current by as much as 15 percent since the mid-20th century . This is in part , Tzedakis notes , due to more freshwater entering the North Atlantic from deoxyephedrine melting . Continuedwarmingis expected , which could potentially put our Earth in a similar scenario of a subpolar North Atlantic and a dry southern Europe .
Today , we ’re experiencing a speedy modification in climate due to anthropogenic causes . menstruation of warming during the LIG , on the other manus , were make by stronger solar radiation sickness in northerly parallel during the summertime months merely because Earth was near to the Sun . This led to intense Arctic warming with surface air temperature estimated at 3 - 11 ° C above pre - Industrial levels . These temperature are like to high - latitude warm scenarios for the end of this C . Although not due to homo , dry and cool period during the LIG are anomalous in that they represent a departure from normal warm interglacial conditions with a unattackable AMOC .
“ So even though it is not a perfect analog for current and future heating triggered by nursery gas emissions , the LIG can provide insights into climate processes during a period of excess passion , ” explained Tzedakis . “ A uncomplicated precautionary principle would intimate that curbing anthropogenically - induce planetary thawing , which is expected to be amplified in the Arctic , would be wise . "
