Researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is melting at significant rates, suggesting an irreversible collapse, which may involve a sea level rise of about three meters in the next centuries. The implications of this finding encompass how the unstoppable breakdown could impact global populations.
How the Antarctic Ice Sheet will develop in the future signifies the biggest ambivalence in sea-level predictions of the present and future centuries. The authors of the study cited recent satellite data and high-resolution simulations pointing to the beginning of ice sheet disequilibrium in the Amundsen Sea area of West Antarctica due to the augmented melting of ice-shelf in the last decade.
The simulations of the study show that if the current melting rate persist for about 60 more years, will subject the WAIS to irreversible collapse. Once the threshold has been reached, prolonged disintegration follows and according to the authors, this damage cannot be curbed by topographic factors. At present, the authors are worried that WAIS has already reached the point of critical instability. More specifically, the authors predicted that over the next centuries or millennia, sea levels will rise by up to three meters (10 feet).
Various studies have pointed out the possibilities should sea levels rise in an unprecedented extent.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, Oct. 12, scientists suggested that several major cities in the United States, particularly Miami and New Orleans, may be submerged in water in the next century. Researchers said that at this point, the catastrophic event cannot be withheld anymore, regardless of continuous efforts to halt global warming.
In another paper, former chief of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration James Hansen said sea level rise could leave coastal cities around the world "dysfunctional." The social and economic implications of cities going debilitated would be devastating, he said.
Experts also predicted that New York city may suffer a sea level rise of up to six feet in the next 100 years. Aside from that, experts said that the city may also experience extreme rainfalls and increase in environmental temperatures.
Another research also predicted the effects of sea level rise come the year 2045. In 30 years, the report said that majority of towns would experience at least 48 tidal floods in a year or four tidal floods per month. A preview of the future may be happening already as areas where flood rarely occur have become affected now.
If the future seems disastrous due to rising sea levels, the past may also be affected as historic national landmarks are predicted to be destroyed as well. Should continuous sea level rise pursue, the world may have to say goodbye to the iconic Statue of Liberty and Jamestown, where the first English settlement in the New World was developed.
"Sea level rise is an extremely challenging problem that requires both greenhouse gas emissions reduction and adaptation measures to successfully protect vulnerable coastal areas," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor at Princeton University who worked on the New York city report.
"No one has to be afraid of sea level rise," said Anders Levermann from "irreversible collapse" study. "One should be worried about sea level rise. It is not a threat to people, it's a threat to things, and land, and cultural heritage."
Photo: Tatiana Pichugina | Flickr
