Antarctic Ice Sheet variability across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary climate transition

Sensitive ice sheets Why did the Antarctic Ice Sheet begin to grow 34 million years ago, and what does that have to do with us? Galeotti et al. studied a marine sediment core recovered from just off the coast of Antarctica (see the Perspective by Lear and Lunt). The ice sheet did not begin to grow u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Galeotti, Simone, DeConto, Robert, Naish, Timothy, Stocchi, Paolo, Florindo, Fabio, Pagani, Mark, Barrett, Peter, Bohaty, Steven M., Lanci, Luca, Pollard, David, Sandroni, Sonia, Talarico, Franco M., Zachos, James C.
Other Authors: Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, NSF, New Zealand Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2016
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aab0669
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.aab0669
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Summary:Sensitive ice sheets Why did the Antarctic Ice Sheet begin to grow 34 million years ago, and what does that have to do with us? Galeotti et al. studied a marine sediment core recovered from just off the coast of Antarctica (see the Perspective by Lear and Lunt). The ice sheet did not begin to grow until atmospheric CO 2 concentrations had dropped to below around 600 parts per million. Indeed, the ice sheet was unstable when CO 2 was higher. As modern atmospheric CO 2 concentrations continue their rise, a shift back to an unstable Antarctic Ice Sheet could increase harmful rises in sea level. Science , this issue p. 76 see also p. 34