A former top NASA scientist predicts devastating rise in sea level. A new study claims there is a lot of doubt regarding the stability in the sea levels, in what may be a turning point for climate change regarded by political action. The new study supports an already increasing concern about the possibly devastating consequences as the results of climate change.
A former climate chief from NASA said that the seas are getting warmer and warmer like never before as the effect of polar ice sheets melting. This will lead to the levels of the sea rising escalating by 15 feet in within the next 50 to 100 years. The study claims that there is evidence that indicates that the levels of the sea grew 16 to 30 feet a lot of time ago, when the average temperatures were only 1 degree Celsius hotter than they are today.
James Hansen, the former NASA climate chief and 16 other authors created the paper which comes as a revelation for makers of policies that there must be a lot more things to be done other than just reaching the recent goals regarding the reduction of greenhouse gases. The leaders of the world have promised to keep the global warming average to only 2 degrees Celsius. This target was agreed upon in the accord signed in Copenhagen in 2009 and it was endorsed by the leaders of the world in June 2015.
The study said that the policymakers must work together and there should be a cooperation worldwide to reduce the emissions practical and rapidly. The ice sheets that melt will result in a lot more fresh and colder water in the oceans, which will change the circulation patterns and will eventually cause even more ice sheets to melt. This will cause the levels of the sea to raise a lot faster than others have forecasted. The researchers said that the level of ice loss is climbing in numerous parts on the globe.
However, not all experts agree with Hansen’s study. And the paper already caused some ruffles with scientists. Seth Borenstein, a science writer from the Associated Press tweeted that he would not write about the study, mostly because the new research had not been reviewed by other scientists. This is a process that lets other experts judge and critique the work.
The new study will be published later on this week online in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussion journal.
Image Source: arounddeglobe.com
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