File:Sea-Level Rise Twice as High as Previously Predicted.png

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Antarctica Ice Sheets & Sea-Level Rise / NYT ---- Science Gets Better: News Gets Worse / AGU

http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/7.35303.1459260889!/image/NationalGeographic_1172216web.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/NationalGeographic_1172216web.jpg

Climate Model Predicts Melting of West Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Double Sea-Level Rise

It is no longer a question of “if” the unthinkable happens, but a question of “when.” And the “when” could happen sooner than you think.

For decades climate scientists have been worried about what happens if the vast West Antarctic ice sheet melts.

The melting of the ice-sheet, which is greater than the size of Mexico, has always been seen as somewhat of a doomsday scenario as it has to the potential to rise sea level by several meters. This is due to the fact that much of the ice-sheet sits on the ground, rather than floats.

Scientists have known about the threat for decades. As the respected British environmental journalist, Paul Brown, wrote 20 years ago in his book Global Warming—Can Civilization Survive?: If the West Antarctic Ice sheet melted “it could add between 4 and 7 m (13-23 feet) to sea level rise … such figures appear to create the potential for a series of large-scale catastrophes.”

By its very nature, any sea level rise of this nature would be catastrophic—wiping out most coastal cities and low-lying areas.

Maybe because the thought is so unthinkable, it has been easy to dismiss. The deniers and climate skeptics have long responded that this kind of speculation was scaremongering.

The other source of comfort is that even in their worst nightmare scenarios, scientists thought that this would happen over a period of hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

But not any more.

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http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Sea-Level_Rise

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/31/headlines/dramatic_sea_level_rise_could_flood_coastal_cities_by_2100

Coastal cities including New York, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong could be flooded before the end of the century. The dramatic new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, predicts global warming could melt the West Antarctic ice sheet within decades—far faster than previously predicted. The collapse of this sheet, combined with ice melting in other regions, could cause seas to rise up to six feet by 2100. The study’s authors, Robert DeConto of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and David Pollard of Pennsylvania State University, also found the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet is not yet inevitable, but that the emission reduction plans outlined in the 2015 Paris climate deal are far too weak to stop the sheet from melting.

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarctica-meltdown-could-double-sea-level-rise/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/03/30/the-alarming-science-behind-projections-of-much-higher-seas-in-this-century/

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/03/31/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-could-collapse-causing-significant-sea-level-rise-experts-warn.html

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Nature | News

Antarctic model raises prospect of unstoppable ice collapse

Sea levels could rise by more than 15 metres by 2500 if greenhouse-gas emissions continue to grow

http://www.nature.com/news/antarctic-model-raises-prospect-of-unstoppable-ice-collapse-1.19638

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