During the most recent ice age (at its maximum about 20,000 years ago) the world's sea level was about 130 m lower than today, due to the large amount of sea water that had evaporated and been deposited as snow and ice, mostly in the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Most of this had melted by about 10,000 years ago.

What happens to sea level during an ice age?

During cold-climate intervals, known as glacial epochs or ice ages, sea level falls because of a shift in the global hydrologic cycle: water is evaporated from the oceans and stored on the continents as large ice sheets and expanded ice caps, ice fields, and mountain glaciers.

Did sea levels drop during the Little Ice Age?

There was virtually no rise in sea-level during the Little Ice Age (AD 1400-1700). ... Changes from slow to fast rates of relative sea-level rise apparently occurred over periods of only a few decades.