Scientists are warning that the melting of Greenland’s ice cover is now “inevitable,” resulting in a significant rise in sea levels. An international team of experts discovered in a recent study that ice melt from Greenland alone will cause sea levels to rise by at least 10.6 inches. But it seems like the best-case scenario.
If record melt years like 2012 become more common in Greenland as a result of climate change, the researchers discovered that sea levels might rise by a “staggering” 30.7 inches. Not only would this be a calamity affecting billions of people living in coastal areas, but it would also serve as another warning sign that global warming is having a destructive and possibly irreversible impact on our world.
The researchers looked at satellite data on ice losses to Greenland’s ice cap from 2000 to 2019 and assessed the impacts of sea level rise given the overall volume of Greenland’s ice cap.
However, one key limitation of the research is that it cannot offer a timetable for when sea-level rise would occur. However, given present patterns, it won’t be long.
“A 10.6-inch increase is a very cautious rock-bottom minimum. Realistically, we will see this amount more than double within this century, and whether it happens in 100 years or 150 years, it will happen…”
Reference Journal Nature Climate Change, The Guardian, BBC Earth, National Geographic, The History Channel