SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sea level rise from the current rate of ice sheet melt in Antarctica and Greenland present "worst-case climate change scenario," researchers say. (Photo: Jadeo/Pixabay)
'Worst-Case Scenario' of Melting Ice and Sea Level Rise Coming to Pass, Warn Researchers
At its current rate, the sea level rise will be "enough to double the frequency of storm-surge flooding in many of the world's largest coastal cities" by the end of the century.
Sep 03, 2020
The lives and homes of sixteen million people living in coastal areas around the world could be threatened by the current rate of ice-melt in Antarctica and Greenland, which tracks with the "worst-case scenario" put forward by global scientists.
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study this week showing that the scenario the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned about is coming true as the melting of ice has accelerated in recent years, with sea levels rising 1.8 centimeters or 0.7 inches since the 1990s.
"The rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined."
--Dr. Tom Slater, University of Leeds
Over the last five years, the study shows, melting ice has overtaken thermal expansion--in which the volume of sea water grows as it gets warmer--as the primary driver of sea level rise.
The alarming findings of the study, published Monday in Nature Climate Change, follows research published by Ohio State University last month, which showed that Greenland's ice melt has passed the "point of no return," and even redoubled efforts to stop the warming of the globe by ending fossil fuel extraction will not be enough to stem looming catastrophe.
If Greenland's ice sheet were to disintegrate entirely, the study published this week said, sea levels would rise more than 22 feet.
The loss of Antarctica would cause sea levels to rise 190 feet.
The complete loss of the two ice masses is not currently anticipated by scientists, but the current melting rate could add 17 centimeters, or more than six inches, to sea levels by the end of the century.
"Although we anticipated the ice sheets would lose increasing amounts of ice in response to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere, the rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined," said Dr. Tom Slater, lead author of the study.
The expected sea level rise has significant implications for coastal cities and towns around the world, the authors said, and humanity is currently "in danger of being unprepared" for the impacts.
The effects of the current rate of ice-melt could be "calamitous" even in the next two decades, tweeted climate campaigner Ben See in response to the study.
The expected change in sea levels by the end of the century would be "enough to double the frequency of storm-surge flooding in many of the world's largest coastal cities," said Dr. Anna Hogg, co-author of the study.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The lives and homes of sixteen million people living in coastal areas around the world could be threatened by the current rate of ice-melt in Antarctica and Greenland, which tracks with the "worst-case scenario" put forward by global scientists.
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study this week showing that the scenario the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned about is coming true as the melting of ice has accelerated in recent years, with sea levels rising 1.8 centimeters or 0.7 inches since the 1990s.
"The rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined."
--Dr. Tom Slater, University of Leeds
Over the last five years, the study shows, melting ice has overtaken thermal expansion--in which the volume of sea water grows as it gets warmer--as the primary driver of sea level rise.
The alarming findings of the study, published Monday in Nature Climate Change, follows research published by Ohio State University last month, which showed that Greenland's ice melt has passed the "point of no return," and even redoubled efforts to stop the warming of the globe by ending fossil fuel extraction will not be enough to stem looming catastrophe.
If Greenland's ice sheet were to disintegrate entirely, the study published this week said, sea levels would rise more than 22 feet.
The loss of Antarctica would cause sea levels to rise 190 feet.
The complete loss of the two ice masses is not currently anticipated by scientists, but the current melting rate could add 17 centimeters, or more than six inches, to sea levels by the end of the century.
"Although we anticipated the ice sheets would lose increasing amounts of ice in response to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere, the rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined," said Dr. Tom Slater, lead author of the study.
The expected sea level rise has significant implications for coastal cities and towns around the world, the authors said, and humanity is currently "in danger of being unprepared" for the impacts.
The effects of the current rate of ice-melt could be "calamitous" even in the next two decades, tweeted climate campaigner Ben See in response to the study.
The expected change in sea levels by the end of the century would be "enough to double the frequency of storm-surge flooding in many of the world's largest coastal cities," said Dr. Anna Hogg, co-author of the study.
The lives and homes of sixteen million people living in coastal areas around the world could be threatened by the current rate of ice-melt in Antarctica and Greenland, which tracks with the "worst-case scenario" put forward by global scientists.
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study this week showing that the scenario the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned about is coming true as the melting of ice has accelerated in recent years, with sea levels rising 1.8 centimeters or 0.7 inches since the 1990s.
"The rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined."
--Dr. Tom Slater, University of Leeds
Over the last five years, the study shows, melting ice has overtaken thermal expansion--in which the volume of sea water grows as it gets warmer--as the primary driver of sea level rise.
The alarming findings of the study, published Monday in Nature Climate Change, follows research published by Ohio State University last month, which showed that Greenland's ice melt has passed the "point of no return," and even redoubled efforts to stop the warming of the globe by ending fossil fuel extraction will not be enough to stem looming catastrophe.
If Greenland's ice sheet were to disintegrate entirely, the study published this week said, sea levels would rise more than 22 feet.
The loss of Antarctica would cause sea levels to rise 190 feet.
The complete loss of the two ice masses is not currently anticipated by scientists, but the current melting rate could add 17 centimeters, or more than six inches, to sea levels by the end of the century.
"Although we anticipated the ice sheets would lose increasing amounts of ice in response to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere, the rate at which they are melting has accelerated faster than we could have imagined," said Dr. Tom Slater, lead author of the study.
The expected sea level rise has significant implications for coastal cities and towns around the world, the authors said, and humanity is currently "in danger of being unprepared" for the impacts.
The effects of the current rate of ice-melt could be "calamitous" even in the next two decades, tweeted climate campaigner Ben See in response to the study.
The expected change in sea levels by the end of the century would be "enough to double the frequency of storm-surge flooding in many of the world's largest coastal cities," said Dr. Anna Hogg, co-author of the study.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.