A team of researchers led by Hokkaido University has warned that sea levels could rise by up to 17 feet by the end of the millennium if the Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt under current global warming trends, after modeling the fate of the Antarctic ice sheet after XXI century.
And according to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, this fate may be avoided if global warming emissions are curbed while keeping sea level rise under one foot. Vast areas of densely populated coastal land are uninhabitable.
"This study clearly shows that the impact of 21st century climate change on the Antarctic ice sheet extends well beyond the 21st century itself," said meteorologist Christopher Chambers of Japan's Hokkaido University.
The meteorologist added that the most serious consequences, contributing up to several meters to sea level rise, will likely not appear until later.
Future work will include building the simulations on more realistic future climate scenarios, as well as using other ice sheet models to model the results.
Dr. Chambers and colleagues build on existing research in the so-called "Ice Sheet Model Comparison Project Phase 6", or ISMIP6 for short.
This international project used the latest generation of climate models to estimate the impact of global warming on both Antarctica and the Greenland ice sheets at the turn of the century.
The team focused on the overall global change of the Antarctic ice sheets and the regional changes in East and West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.