Rising Sea Levels Shown to Be Worse Than Previously ForecastUnmuteRising Sea Levels Shown to Be Worse Than Previously Forecast<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate change is causing oceans to rise quicker than scientists\u2019 most pessimistic forecasts, resulting in earlier flood risks to coastal economies already struggling to adapt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The revised estimates published Tuesday in Ocean Science<\/em><\/a> impact the two-fifths of the Earth\u2019s population who live near coastlines. Insured property worth trillions of dollars could face even greater danger from floods, superstorms and tidal surges. The research suggests that countries will have to rein in their greenhouse gas emissions even more than expected to keep sea levels in check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt means our carbon budget is even more depleted,\u201d said Aslak Grinsted, a geophysicist at the University of Copenhagen who co-authored the research. Economies need to slash an additional 200 billion metric tons of carbon \u2014 equivalent to about five years of global emissions \u2014 to remain within the thresholds set by previous forecasts, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What on Earth?The Bloomberg Green newsletter is your guide to the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance.EmailSign UpBy submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> and to receive offers and promotions from Bloomberg.More from<\/a>PennEast Pipeline Gets High Court Hearing on Land-Use Rights<\/a>New York Snow Entered Record Books as City Dug Out<\/a>Ethiopia\u2019s Meles Says Africa May \u2018Walk Out\u2019 Over Climate Talks<\/a>Arctic Blast Will Bring a Deep Freeze From Chicago to New York<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers built on the United Nation\u2019s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\u2019s models, many of which only consider the last 150 years, by incorporating data going back several centuries. The new observations show about a half-meter of sea rise by the end of the century can now be expected with just a 0.5 degree Celsius rise in temperatures. Oceans could rise more than 1 meter at 2 degrees Celsius, a trajectory that will be easily passed under current climate policies<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe models we are basing our predictions of sea-level rise on presently are not sensitive enough,\u201d Grinsted said. \u201cTo put it plainly, they don\u2019t hit the mark when we compare them to the rate of sea-level rise we see when comparing future scenarios with observations going back in time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conclusions follow last month\u2019s warning that rising temperatures have melted 28 trillion metric tons<\/a> of ice \u2014 equivalent to a 100 meter thick sheet of ice covering the entire U.K. \u2014 making the worst-case climate scenarios more likely. The new methodology for tracking sea level change could help insurance companies, real estate developers and city planners erecting tidal-defense systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe scenarios we see before us now regarding sea-level rise are too conservative \u2013 the sea looks, using our method, to rise more than what is believed using the present method,\u201d Grinsted said, adding that his team at the Niels Bohr Institute is in touch with the IPCC about incorporating its results in next year\u2019s sixth Assessment Report<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New research indicates economies have to emit even less carbon than budgeted to keep oceans from rising. By Jonathan Tirone February 1, 2021 (Bloomberg.com) Rising Sea Levels Shown to Be Worse Than Previously ForecastUnmuteRising Sea Levels Shown to Be Worse Than Previously Forecast Climate change is causing oceans to rise quicker than scientists\u2019 most pessimistic… Continue reading ![\"relates](\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/images\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/iGCRpAHudv2c\/v1\/600x-1.png\")