Sea ice insulates the ocean, reflects heat, drives currents, supports ecosystems and protects ice shelves. It also has an annual seasonal cycle—some of the ice melts, then freezes again.…Continue readingDevastatingly low Antarctic sea ice may be the ‘new abnormal,’ study warns
Tag: sea level rise
Most coastal communities will encounter 100-year floods annually by the end of the century, even under a moderate scenario where carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040, a new study…Continue readingCentury’s end may bring annual 100-year floods
Antarctica is likely warming at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world and faster than climate change models are predicting, with potentially far-reaching implications for global…Continue readingAntarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels
Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2022, according to the 33rd annual State of the Climate report. “People are causing the…Continue readingInternational report confirms record-high greenhouse gases, global sea levels in 2022
Surrounded by idyllic clear waters, the densely populated island of Carti Sugtupu off Panama’s north coast has barely an inch to spare with houses crammed together—some jutting out into…Continue reading‘We’re going to sink’: hundreds abandon Caribbean island home
The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond…Continue readingUsing evidence from last Ice Age, scientists predict effects of rising seas on coastal habitats
Much of the world’s natural coastline is protected by living habitats, most notably mangroves in warmer waters and tidal marshes closer to the poles. These ecosystems support fisheries and…Continue readingAfter studying more than 1,500 coastal ecosystems, researchers say they will drown if we let the world warm above 2˚C
Over the past few weeks, a large-scale rescue operation has been under way off the coast and keys of Florida. It began as water temperatures were rising towards a…Continue readingMissing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans
Sea ice in the Antarctic region fell to a record low this year as a result of rising global temperatures and there is no quick fix to reverse the…Continue readingNo quick fix to reverse ‘astonishing’ Antarctic sea ice loss
More than $122 billion of economic activity—$81 billion in international trade—is at risk from the impact of extreme climate events, according to new research from Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute.Continue readingExploring the multi-billion-dollar risk to economic activity from climate extremes affecting ports
A mile-thick ice sheet in Greenland vanished around 416,000 years ago during a period of moderate natural warming, driving global sea rise to levels that would spell catastrophe for…Continue readingGreenland melted recently, says study that raises future sea level threat
Camp Century is 138 miles inland from the coast and only 800 miles from the North Pole; the new Science study shows that the region entirely melted and was…Continue readingGreenland melted some 416,000 years ago, shows high risk of causing sea level rise today
Much of the ice lost in 2022 had been present since 2000, when high-quality records began. If this trend persists, the consequences for the climate and for Southern Ocean…Continue readingFractured foundations: How Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ ice is dwindling and why that’s bad news
Antarctic sea ice reached a record low for the month of June, increasing calls from scientists to intensify research and monitoring of the Earth’s polar ice caps. Since 2016,…Continue readingRecord low Antarctic sea ice levels worry scientists
The slow-down of the Southern Ocean circulation, a dramatic drop in the extent of sea ice and unprecedented heatwaves are all raising concerns that Antarctica may be approaching tipping…Continue readingAntarctic tipping points: The irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2˚C
“Our data show the impacts of climate change are running ahead of schedule,” said lead author Kathryn Gunn, of the Australian Science agency CSIRO and Britain’s Southampton University. The…Continue readingDangerous slowing of Antarctic ocean circulation sooner than expected
We found melting of Antarctic ice is disrupting the formation of Antarctic bottom water. The meltwater makes Antarctic surface waters fresher, less dense, and therefore less likely to sink.…Continue readingAntarctic alarm bells: Observations reveal deep ocean currents are slowing earlier than predicted
“These ice-ocean interactions make the glaciers more sensitive to ocean warming,” said senior co-author Eric Rignot, UCI professor of Earth system science and NASA JPL research scientist. “These dynamics…Continue readingResearchers discover a cause of rapid ice melting in Greenland
On September 8, 2022, at 6.30pm in Britain, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The news broke just 30 minutes before the press embargo lifted on…Continue readingHumanity’s tipping point? How the Queen’s death stole a climate warning’s thunder
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are now losing more than three times as much ice a year as they were 30 years ago, according to a new comprehensive…Continue reading‘Devastating’ melt of Greenland, Antarctic ice sheets found
In 2022 the summer minimum was less than 2 million square km for the first time since satellite records began. This summer, the minimum was even lower—just 1.7 million…Continue readingAntarctica’s heart of ice has skipped a beat: Science briefing calls for action
The groundbreaking modeling study published by Australian and American researchers at the end of March for the first time includes a detailed assessment of the likely impact of melting…Continue readingNew Research Sparks Concerns That Ocean Circulation Will Collapse
The world’s glaciers melted at dramatic speed last year and saving them is effectively a lost cause, the United Nations reported Friday, as climate change indicators once again hit…Continue readingUN reports ‘off the charts’ melting of glaciers
Multiple new studies highlight a rate of sea level rise that is ‘unprecedented in at least 120 years’ along the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. coast.Continue readingSeas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade
Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 meters a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured.Continue readingIce sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible
New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuries.Continue readingMelting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050
The study showed that internal climate variability could increase sea level rise in some locations by 20–30% more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme…Continue readingSea level rise poses particular risk for Asian megacities
Parts of Earth’s ice sheets that could lift global oceans by meters will likely crumble with another half degree Celsius of warming, and are fragile in ways not previously…Continue readingClimate, ice sheets & sea level: the news is not good
António Guterres calls for urgent action as climate-driven rise brings ‘torrent of trouble’ to almost a billion people.Continue readingRising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns
Seventy years after the worst natural disaster to strike the Netherlands, Chiem de Vos, seven at the time, still hears his neighbour’s desperate cries of “My children are drowning!”…Continue readingDutch flood memories unleash new climate fears
Venice is one of the world’s most extraordinary cities, a UNESCO heritage site that draws millions of tourists each year. But it is slowly drowning.Continue readingVenice recruits next generation in flooding fight
A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7˚F (1.5˚C) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to…Continue readingNew ice core analysis shows sharp Greenland warming spike
Using the new measurements of land elevation, Vernimmen and co-author Aljosja Hooijer found coastal areas lie much lower than older radar data had suggested. Analyses of the new lidar-based…Continue readingWorst impacts of sea level rise will hit earlier than expected, says modeling study
Half of the world’s glaciers – frozen reservoirs supplying three-quarters of the global water supply – could “disappear” by the end of the century under 1.5˚C of warming, a…Continue readingHalf of world’s glaciers to ‘disappear’ with 1.5˚C of global warming
A minimal [sea level] rise of another 2 feet (0.6 metres) is projected from now through 2100, though the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses an intermediate rise of 4.65…Continue readingClimate change is coming for the Jersey Shore, retiring coastal expert warns
More and more scientists are now admitting publicly that they are scared by the recent climate extremes, such as the floods in Pakistan and west Africa, the droughts and…Continue readingWhy scientists are using the word scary over the climate crisis
An ADB report presented during the bank’s annual board meeting (26-30 September) warns that sea levels in the Asia-Pacific could exceed two meters by 2100. “For short- to medium-term…Continue readingSea-level rise ‘may cross two meters by 2100’
Sprawling coastal cities in South and Southeast Asia are sinking faster than elsewhere in the world, leaving tens of millions of people more vulnerable to rising sea levels. Vietnam’s…Continue readingAsian coastal cities sinking fast
Pine Island Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, which holds back enough ice to raise sea levels by 0.5 meters, could be more vulnerable to complete disintegration than previously thought.…Continue readingScientists expose vulnerabilities of critical Antarctic ice shelf
The world’s chances of avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown are diminishing rapidly, as we enter “uncharted territory of destruction” through our failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions…Continue readingWorld heading into ‘uncharted territory of destruction’
Higher high tides, supercharged by rising sea levels, could flood all or parts of an estimated $34 billion worth of real estate along the nation’s coasts within just 30…Continue readingRising seas fueled by climate change to swamp $34 billion in US real estate in just 30 years
Unprecedented and societally disruptive extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts, dust storms and torrential rains, will soon become a reality unless immediate, ambitious, and transboundary climate action is…Continue readingWarming of up to 5°C in this century projected for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East
The rice fields are washed away. The coconut trees and chilli plants, flooded with salt water, are all dead. The farmers’ fish ponds fail, the water so high that…Continue readingThe Indonesians living in flooded villages
Major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now inevitable, scientists have found, even if the fossil fuel burning that is driving the climate crisis…Continue readingMajor sea-level rise is ‘now inevitable’
The world’s biggest ice sheet could cause “several meters” of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2°C, according to a British study. Researchers at…Continue readingWorld’s biggest ice sheet could cause massive sea rise without action
As Antarctica’s slow rivers of ice hit the sea, they float, forming ice shelves. These shelves extend the glaciers into the ocean until they calve into icebergs. But they…Continue readingIce shelves hold back Antarctica’s glaciers from adding to sea levels, but they’re crumbling
The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 meters (170 feet). An estimated…Continue readingTroubling new research about East Antarctica
In its State of the Climate report for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for 2021, the WMO said ecosystems, food and water, human health and welfare were all…Continue readingBattered by climate change, Latin America must brace for worse
In the years ahead, sea level rise, more intense storm surge and jacked-up tropical storms will be visiting many of the world’s roughly 3,800 ports. Most of those ports…Continue readingRising Seas Are the Next Crisis for the World’s Ports
Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the continent’s climate is changing, and the Southern Ocean is warming, becoming more acidic and losing oxygen. Locally, changing climates are already affecting the…Continue readingAntarctic is changing dramatically, with global consequences
Sea level rise will force the abandonment of about 200,000 coastal properties in England within 30 years, new data suggests, as the climate crisis takes hold. These are the…Continue readingSea level rise in England will force 200,000 to abandon homes
In their effort to provide decision makers with insight into the consequences of climate change, climate researchers are bringing order to the large number of sea level projections. Aimée…Continue readingBringing order to the chaos of sea level projections