Coupled simulations find greater resilience in the East Antarctic ice sheet

A Nature Climate Change study coupled atmosphere, ocean and both polar ice sheets in idealized simulations spanning 100,000 years under different carbon-dioxide levels. West Antarctica still undergoes substantial millennial-scale loss above roughly 2°C of global warming, while Greenland retreats severely near a 6°C threshold. East Antarctica appears more resilient because wetter, cloudier air, southward-shifted westerlies, more snowfall and less shortwave radiation offset more ablation. Even the strongest scenario still produces around six metres of Antarctic sea-level-equivalent ice loss. The model is coarse and simplifies sub-ice ocean processes, so the finding refines long-term projections rather than cancelling near-term sea-level risk.