Antarctic ice melt may be reversible due to rising land beneath

The melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet isn’t necessarily permanent, as bedrock cores show that some of its ice grew back after a more severe thaw thousands of years ago. The evidence suggests that Earth’s crust rebounding from under the diminishing ice, like a memory foam mattress, could slow glacial melt and sea level rise.

The ice sheet, which holds enough ice to raise oceans more than 3 metres, sits mostly below sea level. …