Given the best-case scenario, the researchers report today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the east coasts of Canada and New England would get another four inches of water. In the worst-case scenario, sea level would rise by an extra foot in coastal areas from New York to Halifax. "In the East Coast region, there are many big cities," Hu said. "If sea levels rise, it means some parts of land will submerge under water." Water could surge over levies and flood estuaries, where organisms depend on a careful balance between salt and freshwater. Other researchers warn against jumping to conclusions. For now, Greenland's melting contributes less than half a millimeter of water to the oceans each year, said Mike Winton, an oceanographer at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J. That's a tiny amount. Whether acceleration of melting from the Greenland Ice Sheet will continue, he added, is a big question mark. The Arctic has experienced wide swings in climate variability. "I don't think we need to get particularly alarmed about this particular phenomenon," Winton said. "It's just part of the mix." More important will be figuring out how sea level rise is going to vary from one region to the next around the world -- and what we're going to do about it, said glaciologist Eric Rignot. It can take 30 or 40 years for polar ice to respond to our efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, said Rignot, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. That means we need to start thinking about the distant future today. "Even the most conservative people agree that Greenland is doomed," Rignot said. "Sea level is not going to stop rising after 2100. Instead of being scared, we need to take it seriously and plan ahead." Related Links: |
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