A new study, led by James Hansen, NASA's former lead climate scientist, and 16-co-authors, paints a very grim picture of the stability of the world's sea levels in the near future.
Many of those involved in writing the report are regarded as being at the top of their respective fields. The conclusion they reached was that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica are going to melt 10 times faster than predicted earlier. This would result in sea level rise of at least 10 feet in as few as 50 years.
The study has not been peer reviewed yet, but is generating a lot of thought about the future of the world's oceans, as well as the fate of human and animal populations that depend on their current state.
It emphasised the feedback loop in the Southern Ocean. As the glaciers melt, cooler fresh water forces warmer salt water under the ice sheets, which results in them melting faster. It's a vicious circle, and Hansen says he hopes the findings will help persuade governments and large organisations to enact change, more than previous studies have.
The researchers used a combination of paleoclimate records, computer models and observations of contemporary sea level rise to come to their findings. The study doesn't predict the precise timing of the feedback loop, but says it is likely to occur this century. The ultimate implication of this is that every coastal city on the planet may be habitable for only a few more decades, requiring "emergency cooperation among nations," as Hansen says.
