Scientists have made significant progress in understanding how sea levels rose in the past, which will help improve projections for future sea level rise. A new analysis of ancient layers of peat at the bottom of the North Sea found that sea levels jumped by as much as 3.3 feet per century during certain periods between 8,300 and 10,300 years ago.
The study, published in Nature, provides insights into the complex interaction between ice sheets, climate, and sea level change. Current estimates for sea level rise over the next 75 years range from 1 to 4 feet, but the new findings suggest that projections of 3 feet of sea level rise by 2100 are not unrealistic.
The researchers drilled into the seafloor to extract submerged peat from an area called Doggerland, which was part of a land bridge between Great Britain and mainland Europe during the last ice age. The analysis of the peat layers allowed scientists to digitally reconstruct the course of sea level rise during the study period.
The findings have significant implications for coastal communities trying to prepare themselves for the impacts of climate change. Understanding more precisely how sea levels rose in the past is crucial to making better projections going forward, said researchers Aimée Slangen and Roland Gehrels.
According to the study, the North Sea area serves as a valuable laboratory for studying sea level rise due to its similar rates of change to those expected over the next 50-100 years. The peat samples used in the new study offer a higher level of precision for estimating sea level rise at the end of the ice age than fossil coral records.
The researchers emphasized that the findings provide essential insights into the mechanisms behind changes in sea levels and will help predict how current and future ice-sheet dynamics will affect future sea levels.
Source: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19032025/rapid-sea-level-rise-during-last-ice-age