Scientists are sounding the alarm about the inevitable melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a major contributor to rising sea levels, as a result of climate change. They ran simulations on the UK's national supercomputer to examine how much melting is beyond our control and what the international community can still influence through greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The results are sobering, highlighting the urgent need for climate action.
The research, which considered climate variability, found no significant difference between mid-range emissions scenarios and the most ambitious targets set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Even under the best-case scenario of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, ice melt in the West Antarctic will accelerate three times faster than it did in the 20th century. This disheartening revelation underscores that the world has already lost control of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's melting. Lead author Dr. Kaitlin Naughten from the British Antarctic Survey explains, "It looks like we've lost control of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. If we wanted to preserve it in its historical state, we would have needed action on climate change decades ago." While this revelation is disconcerting, it offers a silver lining – recognizing the situation in advance gives us time to adapt to the impending sea level rise. Planning and adapting to the challenges ahead will be critical for coastal communities and policymakers.
Source: Phys.org