Muir Glacier and Inlet (1895)

In the photo above, the west shoreline of Muir Inlet in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve is shown as it appeared in 1895. Notice the lack of vegetation on the slopes of the mountains, and the glacier that stands more than 300 feet high. See the glacier as it looked in 2005 on the next page. (USGS/Bruce Molnia)

For the better part of the last 6,000 years sea levels across the Earth rose at a sluggish pace. But in the last century-plus Earth's sea levels underwent an unprecedented rise, not seen since 4,000 B.C..

That's according to a new comprehensive study of 35,000 years of sea level fluctuations based on data from 1,000 sediment samples taken from the coast of Australia and Asia. According to the study, sea levels climbed nearly 8 inches in the past century, roughly the same amount that took place in the 5,900 years previous, marking a dramatic uptick since economies and populations boomed across the globe.

Scientists led by Australian National University chose the 35,000-year time period for the study because it falls within an interglacial period -- a period of warmer temperatures, and therefore glacial ice melt, between ice ages. Ice from the last ice age started melting 16,000 years ago, causing sea levels to rise rapidly for the next 10,000 years, The Guardian notes. That process slowed down during the last 6,000 years, but as the study notes, an increase in the rate of sea level rise in the last century seems to have reversed that trend.

“What we see in the tide gauges, we don’t see in the past record, so there’s something going on today that’s wasn’t going on before,” said Kurt Lambeck, the study's lead author. “I think that is clearly the impact of rising temperatures.”

(MORE: 20 Countries Most At Risk For Sea Level Rise)

Specifically, a temperature rise linked to human greenhouse emissions, like carbon dioxide, the atmospheric concentrations of which have significantly increased during the same time span, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s fifth assessment report. But what do higher temperatures have to do with sea level rise?

The answer is two fold, according to Lambeck. Lambeck told Australian news that the rise in surface temperatures is amplifying both a phenomenon known as thermal expansion -- warming ocean water, which in turn causes that water to expand -- and glacial ice melt, both of which are accelerating the pace of sea level rise.

And it's likely not going to stop, even with conservation efforts, Lambeck said.

“All the studies show that you can’t just switch off this process," Lambeck told The Guardian. "Sea levels will continue to rise for some centuries to come even if we keep carbon emissions at present day levels. What level that will get to, we are less sure about. But it’s clear we can’t just reverse the process overnight.”

To read the full study, click here.

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