According to a new study, the emission of gases could lead to the disintegration of ice sheets in the next few decades, causing sea levels to rise above 50 feet by the end of the century. Coastlines such as Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, San Francisco and others will be under sea level.

A recent study published in the journal Nature assures that previous climate change studies haven’t integrated into their estimates one of the most important factors, West Antarctic ice sheets.

Scientists believe that the effects of global warming could cause the giant ice sheet to disintegrate, this would mean the rising of sea level to over 12 feets by 2100, if West Antarctic ice sheets break up.

According to a new study, the emission of gases could lead to the disintegration of ice sheets in the next few decades. Photo credit: Eric Rignot, JPL / AGU
According to a new study, the emission of gases could lead to the disintegration of ice sheets in the next few decades. Photo credit: Eric Rignot, JPL / AGU

The study approaches a wide approximation of sea level rising, estimating rising for the next decades and suggesting the rising of sea level up to 50 feet by 2500.

Researchers found an alarming projection on the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheets since it could lead to the alteration of the earth in the next 100 to 500 years.

Previous climate change studies believed that the worst case scenarios would take place in almost a thousand years and hadn’t previewed the melting of the West ice sheets.

The study

The study was held by two scientists that are no strangers to the ice-sheet modeling world. Dr. Robert M. DeConto from the University of Massachusetts and his colleague Dr. Polland. Both scientists have studied ice-sheets for the last few years and have been developing a computer program that was able to recreate ice-sheet melting from past centuries, to get a better understanding of how sea level has risen throughout history.

Dr. Alley, a colleague of both doctors and one of the main authors of the study, urged his partners to consider the effects that the ice-sheet melting could have on sea levels.

This matter has happened before in 2002, smaller ice shelves from the Larsen B shelf broke apart in just two weeks, generating the melting of an ice shelf that had the size of Rhode Island.

The research projects sea levels to the year 2500, in where sea levels will be above 50 feet higher than today’s levels. In this projection, the state of Delaware would disappear under the sea, Manhattan and Brooklyn would be almost entirely covered by water. Florida would end at Lake Okeechobee and California’s Sacramento would be under water.

“We are not saying this is definitely going to happen, but i think we are pointing out that there’s a danger and it should receive a lot more attention” Said Dr. David Pollard

This issue comes as a response to the constant global warming campaign over the last decade. Ice-melting issues are just one of the problems the world is facing and studies are day to day assuring the humankind needs to prevent these terrifying events.

Source: New York Times