Washington: Global sea levels will rise about 2.3 meters, or more than seven feet, over the next several thousand years for every degree (Celsius) the planet warms, according to a new study.
This international study is one of the first to combine analyses of four major contributors to potential sea level rise into a collective estimate, and compare it with evidence of past sea-level responses to global temperature changes.
"The study did not seek to estimate how much the planet will warm, or how rapidly sea levels will rise," Peter Clark, an Oregon State University paleoclimatologist and author of the study, said.
"Instead, we were trying to pin down the `sea-level commitment` of global warming on a multi-millennial time scale. In other words, how much would sea levels rise over long periods of time for each degree the planet warms and holds that warmth?
"The simulations of future scenarios we ran from physical models were fairly consistent with evidence of sea-level rise from the past," he added.
Scientists say the four major contributors to sea-level rise on a global scale will come from melting of glaciers, melting of the Greenland ice sheet, melting of the Antarctic ice sheet , and expansion of the ocean itself as it warms.
The study is set to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
ANI
