Study forecasts 9m sea-level rise if temperatures meet 2C threshold
Posted on December 17, 2009
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Global sea levels could rise by up to 9m in the next few hundred years, even if the world manages to stabilise average temperatures to 2C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study.
In this scenario, hundreds of millions of people around the world would be affected as low low-lying coastal areas became inundated. New Orleans would be lost to the sea, much of southern Florida and Bangladesh and most of the Netherlands.
The 2C figure is significant because this is level of warming that is likely to be adopted as the threshold to be avoided by the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen – although small islands states and developing nations have argued that 1.5C would be a more appropriate target.
Nine metres of sea level rise is higher than anything predicted so far because the new study takes into account the potential that the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets start to melt as the Earth warms. This did not factor into the most recent assessment of the state of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007. It forecast a sea-level rise of up to 59cm by 2100, and between 4-6m in the next few hundred years, if average global temperatures stabilised around 2C.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/ipcc-sea-level-rise-temperatures
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2 Responses to “Study forecasts 9m sea-level rise if temperatures meet 2C threshold”
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Date 12/26/09
Combating Global Sea Rise
Not sure if anyone has considered this before, but there are a number of areas below sea level that isn’t too far from the ocean where a simple canal could be established to allow water to flow from the ocean to fill some deep areas on dry land and help offset global sea rise. Areas such as the Qattara Depression could be filled by ocean water. A simple cannel that would hardly support a boat could enlarge itself through erosion to allow for a larger flow of water to fill this natural depression.
Africa is in the process of breaking apart with low-lying areas that will be filled by the sea at some point in the future, and those who depend on water today are struggling because of these geographical changes and the lack of water. By establishing a canal to fill these low-lying areas with sea water, this will result in more rainfall in the region and help to establish better farmland.
Another example of a low-lying area is Israel, where the Dead Sea is shrinking. A canal from the sea with a dam could regulate the height of the Dead Sea to a desirable level.
Also, water from Lake Erie could be redirected to the southwest to refill aquifers.
http://geology.com/below-sea-level/
Mathew Sullivan
Boynton Beach, Florida
Hi Mathew,
yes, I thought of irregating the Dead Sea back in the ’80’s but if you follow the political situation in the region you know how difficult it would be to get an agreement. The human race is destined to destroy its own habitat due to its own greed and stupidity. It’s happend before !
Even so I’m impressed with the ideas of OPT which seem to offer the only viable survival strategy. It’s nice to see that others have also given thought to the problems, I’d begun to think I was nuts !