Climate change

EcoWatch -  While the Paris Agreement targets no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming compared to pre-industrial levels in order to curb the worst impacts of climate change, a new study warns that the amount of sea level rise that will come with that amount of warming could still lead to “catastrophic” inland migration.

In the study, published in Communications Earth and Environment, scientists analyzed data from previous warm periods on Earth, along with recent observations of ice sheet masses and numerical modeling.

According to the study, even the current level of warming around 1.2 degrees Celsius may be too much for ice sheet mass balance, and remaining on the current trajectory of warming could cause multiple ice sheets to quickly collapse and increase sea level rise by several more meters.

“Limiting warming to 1.5°C would be a major achievement and this should absolutely be our focus,” Chris Stokes, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Durham’s Department of Geography, said in a statement. “However, even if this target is met or only temporarily exceeded, people need to be aware that sea level rise is likely to accelerate to rates that are very difficult to adapt to — rates of one centimetre per year are not out of the question within the lifetime of our young people.”

Melting ice sheets could pose major threats to coastal populations if humanity cannot maintain warming within a safe limit for ice sheets. The study authors have estimated that a safe limit for ice sheet equilibrium could be closer to or below 1 degree Celsius of warming compared to pre-industrial levels.