Climatologists have sounded the alarm: glaciers are melting faster than expected

Scientists say in a new study: the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are melting faster than expected. “World leaders must step up their climate ambitions to avoid catastrophic sea level rise,” experts warn.

Ahead of the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference in late November, the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative called on world leaders to heed their warnings. Scientists have released a new study that suggests collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is likely imminent and that Greenland’s glaciers are melting five times faster than they were 20 years ago.

And another group of scientists found that the remaining carbon budget to limit warming is much smaller than thought. Experts believe that at current rates of growth, average global temperatures will be 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in about six years.

The problem of collapsing ice sheets has been a major source of debate among climate scientists. But a wave of new research suggests that dangerous tipping points are closer.

“We may reach the maximum temperature thresholds that have been talked about for a long time sooner than we thought,” said School of Earth and Sustainability Director Rob DeConto. Without a dramatic change in the pace of climate change action, he said, these factors could lead to humanity “facing rates of sea level rise that are well beyond our ability to adapt.”

In the report, scientists say that a 2 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures will force many people to leave the coast.

Professor and geophysicist Julie Brigham-Grette believes that “the decisions being made now will displace millions of people from their homes.”

According to NBC News, more than 60 scientists participated in the study. Many are experts, and some have previously worked on reports for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading body assessing the climate crisis.

In their 2021 report, the researchers estimated that sea levels would rise by about 0.28 to 1.01 meters by 2100, but also said that these figures did not take into account the situation around ice sheets.

New research has found that melting ice sheets are a bigger cause for concern than the IPCC thought.

“Many ice scientists now believe that at 2 degrees Celsius, nearly all of Greenland, much of West Antarctica, and even parts of East Antarctica would cause sea levels to rise, even if air temperatures later cooled,” the new report states. report of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.

It also addresses the following crises: the threat of mountain glaciers to hydropower and drinking water supplies; increased warming due to permafrost; Acidification makes polar waters unsuitable for shelled animals such as krill and crabs.

Recall that many countries are struggling to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. A recent report from the UN Environment Program says world leaders plan to keep global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Sea ice in Antarctica has reached its lowest peak since scientists began taking measurements in 1979, according to a US publication. This is a possible sign that the climate crisis may be impacting a region that has been more resilient to sea ice.

Swiss glaciers have lost about 10 percent of their remaining mass over the past two years, a report claims. And Greenland experienced the second-largest surface melt on record.

“We are preparing today’s kindergarten students for a completely different future,” Professor Brigham-Grette comments on the climate situation, adding that the problem lies in the “selective understanding of the problem by politicians.”

Study author Rob DeConto said, “Although some changes have already begun, the truly dire consequences of cryosphere loss can be avoided by immediately reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”

The authors hope the new report from the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative will influence negotiations at COP28, the climate conference between world leaders due to take place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12.