Sea level is rising three times faster than expected
The sea level is rising three times faster than it had been expected. This is caused by the fast melting of glaciers in the Arctic. It has been reported by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP).
According to AMAP, by 2100 sea level will rise by 0.9 – 1.6 metres, which is almost three times as much than it had been estimated in 2007 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
According to earlier IPCC’s estimates, sea level rise would be between 19 and 59 centimetres. However, at the time the experts had not taken into account the glaciers in the Arctic and Greenland which are melting at an accelerated pace.
Last year, Greenland glaciers experienced the fastest reduction in size since 1979. Moreover, that melting season was the longest in history. The melting was mainly caused by an exceptionally warm summer and milder winter with less snowfall. This year’s melting season was also very long, in some areas it took fifty days longer than the long-term average.
The melting of Greenland glaciers contributes to worldwide sea level rise. At present, just due to the melting of ice-cover in parts of Greenland, level of seas and oceans have risen by half a centimeter.
Sea level rise will have a dramatic impact on the people living in lower situated areas worldwide. At present, there are 150 million people who live in locations elevated one metre above the mean sea level.
“The climate change impact has been much faster than scientists had previously anticipated. In response to this, it’s now the responsibility of Governments to act equally as fast in taking steps to combat climate change,” says Dalibor Dostal, the director of conservation organization European Wildlife.
