ERC Advanced Grant · 2016
WArm Climate Stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet in the last INterglacial (WACSWAIN)
Recent papers predict the loss of most of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) by 2500 if CO2 emissions and rising global temperatures are not controlled. It is critical to test whether the models making such worrying predictions are realistic. I will do this by obtaining new data from the last interglacial (LIG, 130,000-115,000 years ago) to assess the response of the WAIS to comparable warmth. During the LIG, sea level reached 6-9 m higher than today. It is inferred that Antarctic ice sheets contributed several metres of sea level rise, under a climate similar to the one we could be committing ourselves to in the next few centuries. Most authors assume that the lost ice came mainly from…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.