New climate change reports from the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) reveal that New York City might be looking at high sea level rise over the next century.
Sea Levels Will Rise
This Is A Given, New Study Shows
According to scientists at the University of Florida, sea levels may rise by as much as 20 feet in many places around the world.
Much estimation over recent years have been based on predictions but what makes this study different is that researchers are predicting the future of sea-level rise by looking at the past.
"While this amount of sea-level rise will not happen overnight, it is sobering to realize how sensitive the polar ice sheets are to temperatures that we are on path to reach within decades," lead researcher Andrea Dutton said in a release from the university.
The last time sea levels rose to 20 feet was 125,000 years ago. Then, global temperatures were 1.8 Fahrenheit higher than pre-industrial levels.
Things look even worse when carbon levels are looked at, said the researchers. Carbon levels back then when sea level was high maxed out at 280 parts per million. Today, it is much higher at 400 parts per million.
"The decisions we make now about where we want to be in 2100 commit us on a pathway where we can't go back," Dutton told Scientific American. "Once these ice sheets start to melt, the changes become irreversible."
"As the planet warms, the poles warm even faster, raising important questions about how ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica will respond. While this amount of sea-level rise will not happen overnight, it is sobering to realize how sensitive the polar ice sheets are to temperatures that we are on path to reach within decades," said Andrea Dutton, a geochemist with the University of Florida.
Since 1870, sea level has risen by 7.9 inches. More investigation will reveal how the ice sheets near the poles melted during previous warming periods.
This study was published in the latest issue of Science.
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