{"id":305119,"date":"2024-02-27T13:21:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305119"},"modified":"2024-02-27T13:21:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:21:59","slug":"the-elevation-of-the-early-holocenes-w-antarctic-ice-sheet-once-plunged-480-meters-in-200-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305119","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0The Elevation Of The Early Holocene\u2019s W. Antarctic Ice Sheet Once Plunged 480 Meters In 200 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From NoTricksZone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Kenneth Richard<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/em>26. February 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retreat rates for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) were massive during the Early Holocene, when CO2 concentrations were low and stable (~265 ppm), dwarfing any retreat rates witnessed in the modern era.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research published in Nature Geoscience<\/em> (Grieman et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong>) assesses the elevation of West Antarctica\u2019s ice sheet fell by ~480\u2009m within just 200 years from about 8,000 to 8,200 years ago, a drop of more than 2 meters per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scientists also document an ice area retreat of 270 kilometers at the study site within only 400 years, from ~7,300-7,700 years ago. That\u2019s an area retreat rate of about 675 meters per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No modern WAIS recession rates are even remotely comparable to those achieved naturally during the Early to Mid Holocene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, recent research (Zhang et al., 2023<\/a><\/strong>) indicates West Antarctica\u2019s mean annual surface temperatures\u00a0cooled by more than -1.8\u00b0C (-0.93\u00b0C per decade) from 1999-2018<\/a><\/strong>., which would preclude a recession of the WAIS linked to a surface warming trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image Source:\u00a0Grieman et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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