Projections of the sea level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets rely on atmospheric and oceanic drivers obtained from climate models. The Earth System Models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) generally project greater future warming compared with the previous CMIP5 effort. Here we use four CMIP6 models and a selection of CMIP5 models to force multiple ice sheet models as part of the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6). We find that the projected sea level contribution at 2100 from the ice sheet model ensemble under the CMIP6 scenarios falls within the CMIP5 range for the Antarctic ice sheet but is significantly increased for Greenland. Warmer atmosphere in CMIP6 models results in higher Greenland mass loss due to surface melt. For Antarctica, CMIP6 forcing is similar to CMIP5 and mass gain from increased snowfall counteracts increased loss due to ocean warming.

During the last deglaciation (21 - 7 kaBP), the gradual retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheet margins produced large proglacial lakes. While the climatic impacts of these lakes have been widely acknowledged, their role on ice sheet grounding line dynamics has received very little attention so far. Here, we show that proglacial lakes had dramatic implications for the North American ice sheet dynamics through a self-sustained mechanical instability which has similarities with the known marine ice sheet instability albeit providing fast retreat of large portions of the ice sheet over the continent. Systematically reproduced in the latest stage of the deglaciation, this mechanism could provide a physical origin for the debated melt water pulse 1B. Echoing our knowledge of Antarctic ice sheet dynamics, they are another manifestation of the importance of grounding line dynamics for ice sheet evolution.