Marine Isotope Stage 5

[2] Interglacial periods which occurred during the Pleistocene are investigated to better understand present and future climate variability.

[3] Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, called the Eemian (Ipswichian in Britain) around 124,000–119,000 years ago, was the last interglacial period before the present (Holocene), and compared global mean surface temperatures were at least 2 °C (3.6 °F) warmer.

Mean sea level was 4–6 m (13–20 ft) higher than at present, following reductions of the Greenland ice sheet.

Based on the data obtained from stable oxygen isotopes of planktonic foraminifera and age constraints from corals, estimates suggest average rates of sea-level rise of 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) per century.

The study abstract explains: We argue that ice sheets in contact with the ocean are vulnerable to non-linear disintegration in response to ocean warming, and we posit that ice sheet mass loss can be approximated by a doubling time up to sea level rise of at least several meters.