Melting icebergs in Antarctica in 2023 Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The oceans may have been higher than they are now between 4000 and 8000 years ago. Understanding how the ancient climate led to those high seas could improve projections of how climate change will affect sea level in this century.
There are three points in Earth’s recent geologic history where the planet was warm enough to somewhat resemble today’s climate, says Roger Creel at Columbia University in New York. The most recent of these was around the middle of the Holocene Epoch,…
Article amended on 26 July 2023
We have clarified when past average sea levels during the Holocene were most likely to have been highest, the type of measurements used to estimate past relative sea levels and why Antarctic ice may have been less extensive than at present.
