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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Graham Readfearn

Clue to rising sea levels lies in DNA of 4m-year-old octopus, scientists say

Broken and melting sea ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
Scientists say a collapse in the ice sheet more than 100,000 years ago likely made it possible for Turquet’s octopus populations to mix together by travelling between the south Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea. Photograph: Peace Portal Photo/Alamy

Deep in the DNA of an Antarctic octopus, scientists may have uncovered a major clue about the future fate of the continent’s ice sheet – raising fears global heating could soon set off runaway melting.

Climate scientists have been struggling to work out if the ice sheet collapsed completely during the most recent “interglacial” period about 125,000 years ago, when global temperatures were similar to today.

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