According To Study, Even the Most Optimistic Warming Goals Could Result in a Disastrous Sea Level Rise

While the world concentrates on keeping global temperature rises to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, rising meltwater from ice sheets poses an existential danger to the existence of island and coastal nations throughout the world.

Even the most optimistic warming objectives, according to a study, can result in catastrophic sea-level rise, which has already begun and will afflict low-lying nations for years to come.

Paris Agreement temperature targets may worsen climate injustice

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While increasing temperatures are wreaking havoc on global ecosystems, economies, and human well-being, a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts emphasizes that temperature alone is not a sufficient basis for climate policy, as per ScienceDaily.

The researchers focused on the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which has the world's greatest reserve of freshwater enough to raise the oceans by 58 meters, and which is melting at an accelerated pace.

However, the physics of the ice sheet plays a role in its liquification, which will continue for millennia even if global carbon emissions are reduced.

And, because melting ice may impede increasing atmospheric temperatures, it is possible that the melting ice sheet might help preserve what is usually considered a "safe" level of warming, say 1.5 degrees Celsius while allowing for disastrous sea-level rise.

Furthermore, all of the Antarctic meltwater will not result in the same amount of global sea-level increase.

Some locations in the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Indian and Pacific Oceans, will see up to 33% more sea-level rise from Antarctic ice than the world average.

This temperature-sea-level difference has urgent consequences for many areas throughout the world, particularly for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a global group of 39 island and coastal governments.

Indeed, the authors of the article illustrate that, while emitting a minuscule amount of human greenhouse gases, AOSIS nations suffer the burden of the world's rising seas.

Regine Spector, a political science professor at UMass Amherst and one of the paper's senior authors, steps in.

Spector contributed knowledge of political power dynamics and the history of global inequality to the team's study, demonstrating how politically powerful countries influence global climate discussions and perpetuate colonial exploitation patterns experienced by AOSIS states.

According to Spector, focusing on temperature ignores other significant implications of climate change, such as sea-level rise, which is already being felt throughout the world.

Also Read: Paris Agreement: New Study Reveals Policymakers Underestimate Methane Impact on Air Quality and Climate

Causes and Effects of Climate Change

The use of fossil fuels to generate power and heat contributes significantly to global emissions, as per the UN.

The majority of energy is still generated by burning coal, oil, or gas, which emits carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, both of which are potent greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun's heat.

Globally, a little more than a quarter of power is generated by wind, solar, and other renewable sources, which, unlike fossil fuels, send little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the atmosphere.

Manufacturing and industry generate emissions, mostly from the combustion of fossil fuels to provide energy for the production of cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothing, and other items.

Mining and other industrial operations, as well as the building sector, emit gases.

Machines used in the manufacturing process are frequently powered by coal, oil, or gas, and certain products, such as plastics, are manufactured with chemicals derived from fossil fuels.

The manufacturing industry is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.

The global surface temperature rises as greenhouse gas concentrations grow. The previous decade, from 2011 to 2020, has been the hottest on record.

Each decade since the 1980s has been warmer than the preceding one. Hot days and heat waves are becoming increasingly common in nearly all geographical regions.

Heat-related diseases become more common as temperatures rise, making outdoor labor more challenging.

When temperatures are hotter, wildfires start more readily and spread more quickly. The Arctic has warmed at least twice as rapidly as the rest of the world.

Destructive storms have gotten increasingly severe and are common in many areas.

More moisture evaporates as temperatures rise, exacerbating intense rainfall and flooding and resulting in more devastating storms.

The warmer ocean also affects the frequency and severity of tropical storms. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm ocean surface waters.

Such storms frequently demolish houses and towns, resulting in fatalities and massive economic losses.

Related article: New Research: Earth May Have Less Time to Reach Paris Agreement Temperature Than Previously Thought