Cave stalactites yield clues to sea-levels

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Stalactites in a cave near the Red Sea are helping climatologists refine their predictions of sea level rise – and it looks as if previous estimates were dead on.

Sea level rise is one of the most harmful consequences of climate change, and its effects are already being felt in coastal cities like New York.

Historic changes in sea level can indicate how it will change in future. Most of our sea-level records are based on the chemical makeup of sediment cores, which are hard to date ‐ estimates can be thousands of years out. As a result, it is unclear how soon sea level started rising after Earth warmed in prehistoric times, how quickly it rose and what we can expect in the future.

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