The speed of human-caused global warming over the last 150 years is faster than anything seen since the last ice age, about 24,000 years ago, according to a study.

The team led by researchers at the University of Arizona, US, also verified that the main drivers of climate change since the last ice age are rising greenhouse gas concentrations and the retreat of the ice sheets.

The study suggests a general warming trend over the last 10,000 years, settling a decade-long debate about whether this period trended warmer or cooler in the paleoclimatology community.

The researchers found that the magnitude and rate of warming over the last 150 years far surpasses the magnitude and rate of changes over the last 24,000 years.

"This reconstruction suggests that current temperatures are unprecedented in 24,000 years, and also suggests that the speed of human-caused global warming is faster than anything we've seen in that same time," said Jessica Tierney, an associate professor at the University of Arizona, and co-author of the study.

Source: Business Standard