(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists are sounding the alarm about the imminent melting of the Greenland ice cap. The fact is that this will lead to a sharp and significant rise in sea levels, and this is already an environmental disaster that will affect billions of people.
In a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change , an international team of researchers found that melting ice in Greenland alone would cause sea levels to rise by at least 0.26 meters.
This may seem like a minor boost, but in fact, it will lead to quite a few problems. In addition, this is still a positive forecast, because in the worst case, sea levels will rise by as much as 0.77 meters. This is a very realistic forecast if the heat is record-breaking every year.
This development not only means a catastrophe that will affect the billions of people living in coastal regions. This is another warning sign that global warming is leaving a devastating and probably irreversible mark on our planet.
Dangerous sea level rise
The team studied satellite data on ice loss on the Greenland ice cap between 2000 and 2019 and estimated the effect of sea level on the total volume of the Greenland ice cap.
A height of 0.26 meters is a “very conservative minimum”. In reality, we will see that figure double during this century. This is according to Jason Box, lead author of the study by the National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
However, one significant shortcoming of the study is the fact that it is unable to provide a time scale over which sea level rise will occur. But, given current trends, this is not too long – about 100 – 150 years.
If the heat of record year 2012 becomes commonplace, then the planned sea level rise to 0.77 meters is amazing, and the fact that we are already “floating” in this range of ice loss is shocking,
said William Colgan, GEUS researcher.
At the same time, Colgan stressed that there are many opportunities to minimize damage, but the world must act in concert.
However, scientists almost all agree that humanity expects serious consequences of climate change, which are already actively ongoing.
By the way, we recently talked about how a terrible drought continues to dry up rivers and lakes, as a result of which people gain access to previously unseen, or long-forgotten objects. Here we talked about the 13 most amazing finds found at the bottom of reservoirs.
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