End of Century Sea Level Rise Forecasts are Overdone
The opening of a moulin on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Image courtesy of NASA.
An increase in global sea level of more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) by the year 2100 is implausible, according to scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The team, led by Professor Tad Pfeffer, estimated the volume of ice that all glaciers and ice sheets across the globe could lose through ice melt and the release of icebergs into the ocean, according to the short Nature Reports article.
In order for a greater than 2 meter (6.6 feet) by 2100 the discharge of icebergs into the ocean would need to increase more rapidly than ever observed at rates that are probably not feasible.
The below exerpts are from the more in depth ScienceDaily article................
"For Greenland alone to raise sea level by two meters by 2100, all of the outlet glaciers involved would need to move more than three times faster than the fastest outlet glaciers ever observed, or more than 70 times faster than they presently move," said Pfeffer. "And they would have to start moving that fast today, not 10 years from now. It is a simple argument with no fancy physics."
"In my opinion, some of the research out there calling for 20 or 30 feet of sea rise by the end of the century is not backed up by solid glaciological evidence," said Pfeffer.
