Climate crisis: Ice caps are at breaking point, and sea levels will rise more than expected in the coming decades – Job

Sea levels are likely to rise much more in the future than previously expected. This is demonstrated by new research on the impact of warming sea water between the ice caps of Antarctica, for example.

Scientists investigated how warmer seawater emerging between the ice binds to the ice. The conclusion was not entirely surprising that warmer water melts the cavities in the ice more, causing more water to flow in, causing the cavities to expand further, and so on. The presence of a large amount of water between ice sheets makes it easy for large sheets of ice to slide into the water, causing sea levels to rise.

Computer models have shown that it only takes a small increase in the temperature of soft water to cause a “very significant increase” in ice loss. This ultimately leads to a tipping point at which rising sea levels can no longer be reversed. It is not yet possible to determine how close Earth is to this tipping point, or whether it has already been reached, but according to researchers, it could be caused by a temperature rise of just tenths of a degree Celsius.

Sea level rise is seen as one of the consequences of the climate crisis that will reshape the world map in the long term. Major cities from New York City to Shanghai could fall below sea level within the next few decades. Billions of people will either have to radically change their living environment or be forced to flee.