Uncertainty On Sea Level Rise/ Ice Dynamics

• The predictions regarding sea level rise over the next century remain uncertain to some extent and are likely to be underestimated.

• In its 2007 Fourth Assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used new satellite data to conclude that shrinkage of ice sheets may contribute more to sea level rise than it had thought as recently as 2001. The panel concluded that it could not "provide a best estimate or an upper bound for sea level rise" over the next century due to their lack of knowledge about Earth's ice

• There are 5-6 meters worth of sea level in the Greenland ice sheet, and 6-7 meters in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (some recent studies suggest that the East Antarctic is also melting at alarming rates). Hundreds of millions of people live within that range of sea level increase, so our inability to predict what sea level rise is likely over the next century has substantial human and economic ramifications.

• Some recent scientific studies published in the journal Nature, however, show that even East Antarctica has been warming by 0.17°C per decade over the past 50 years which is concerning. Antarctica holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 57 m !

Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges

Uncertainty On Sea Level Rise/ Ice Dynamics