Climate instability during the last interglacial period recorded in the GRIP ice core

Isotope and chemical analyses of the GRIP ice core from Summit, central Greenland, reveal that climate in Greenland during the last interglacial period was characterized by a series of severe cold periods, which began extremely rapidly and lasted from decades to centuries. As the last interglacial seems to have been slightly warmer than the present one, its unstable climate raises questions about the effects of future global warming.