Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) analysed data from the last interglacial, to estimate what impact human-driven climate change will have.
The study’s co-author Fiona Hibbert says, in today’s greenhouse-gas-driven climate change, rapid atmospheric and oceanic warming is happening in both polar regions at the same time and driving simultaneous ice-loss in Antarctica and Greenland.
“But, what is vital to remember is that today’s climatic disturbance is greater and develops faster than that of the last interglacial,” Ms Hibbert said.
A UN science panel that took place in September revealed the process could be stopped if global warming was stabilised, and asked governments to take "urgent and abitious" action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.