The fate of the East Antarctic ice sheet rests in the hands of humanity, a new analysis has shown. Photograph: John Weller/EPAThe fate of the world’s biggest ice sheet rests in the hands of humanity, a new analysis has shown. If global heating is limited to 2 degrees, the vast East Antarctic ice sheet should remain stable, but if the climate crisis pushes temperatures higher, melting could drive up sea levels by metres.
Sea level is rising faster today than for at least 3,000 years, as mountain glaciers and the Greenland ice cap melt, and ocean waters expand as they heat. Even a few metres of sea level rise will redraw the map of the world, with profound consequences for millions of people in coastal cities from New York City to Shanghai.
“The fate of the EAIS remains very much in our hands,” said Prof Chris Stokes, at Durham University in the UK, who led the study. “This ice sheet is by far the largest on the planet and it’s really important that we do not awaken this sleeping giant. We used to think ice sheets in East Antarctica were much less vulnerable to climate change, compared to West Antarctica or Greenland, but we now know there are some areas already showing signs of ice loss.
Significant uncertainties remain, meaning the EAIS alone could cause more than 5m of sea level rise in a worst-case scenario. In the best-case scenario, the EAIS may actually accumulate more ice, from snowfall, than it loses, meaning it would slightly reduce sea level.
Could? RIP the IT.
Tell me about the Great Barrier Reef again?
Could and if,scientists warn.
Quick save granny!
If the ice is floating on the water the sea level will neither rise nor fall when the ice melts as a floating body displaces it’s own weight of water. Now the land ice, that’s a different matter.
Tell America , China ,India etc…
Another new target 😉 and I suppose more tax and control over the working class is how we are saved.
Rubbish.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jeez!!
That's bollox, the earth is cooling!
Could, may, possibly, danger of. All hypothetical nonsense!
Utter shite
Bullshit