Simulation of the European Ice Sheets

Ice sheets form an integral part of the Earth system. They affect the planet's albedo, atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns, topography, and global and local sea-level change. In order to understand how these systems work, it is necessary to understand how ice sheets interact with other parts of the climate system. A methodology is developed that compares relative sea-level records with simulations of past sea-levels using a high resolution, dynamic ice sheet model coupled to an isostatic adjustment model. The model is driven by a climatic forcing function determined so that the simulated ice sheet resembles the past Fennoscandian ice sheet. The Fennoscandian climate driver is then transferred to the British Isles to simulate the past British ice sheet. Finally, a non-linear regression technique is used to construct future ice sheet drivers from future sea-level change scenarios to forecast sea-level change around the British Isles during the next glacial cycle. This bookwill be interesting to anyone who wants to investigate climate change over large time scales and how models of the past might be used to forecast future behaviour.