Sea Levels are Rising Dramatically

(Photo Courtesy IMAGO)

The Arctic Council predicts a dramatically higher and more rapid rise in global sea levels in the future than previously thought. The AMAP Expert Group warns of an average rise in sea level from 0.9 to 1.6 meters by 2100, as reported in the Copenhagen newspaper Politiken.   There are over 150 million people worldwide that live at an altitude of one meter above sea level or less.

The last major prediction of the IPCC which was adopted in 2007, predicted that Global warming would lead to a higher sea levels around 0.19 to 0.59 meters.   In the forthcoming publication which will be released on Tuesday, the AMAP reports that it now means that the accelerated melting of the Arctic Glaciers and Greenland Ice sheet will contribute to the unexpectedly large change in sea level.

So far, growth in the millimeter range

Between 2003 and 2008 the sea level has increased by about 3 millimeters per year.  Melted Arctic ice contributed about 40 percent of this increase, according to the AMAP report.   On May 12th this new forecast will be on the agenda at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Arctic Council in Greenland’s capital Nuuk.

EU climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that the new forecast could give the negotiations on climate change a new perspective. “The data shows that the trend is moving in the wrong direction”  After the failed climate summit in Copenhagen, less emphasis has been placed on this important topic.

Several other studies have meanwhile also pointed out that the sea levels are rising faster than had been calculated by the IPCC.   After studies by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Helsinki University of Technology predict that by 2100, levels will be 75 to 190 centimeters higher that they are today.