Seas could rise 1.4m by 2100, warns Antarctic climate review
A review of climate change in Antarctica forecasts that by 2100 the world’s seas will have risen to levels previously considered too extreme to be realistic. The review, Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment [pdf], was compiled by 100 scientists associated with the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Using 20 of the most up-to-date models that take into account the complex behaviour of the ozone hole over Antarctica, as well as the most recent observations of ice loss, the review predicts that the area of sea ice around Antarctica could shrink by 33 per cent – 2.6 million square kilometres – by 2100, leading to a sea-level rise of 1.4 metres. “This is the first comprehensive review of Antarctic climate change that covers how the climate of the icy continent has changed from deep time,” says John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey, lead editor of the report. The report also makes predictions about how the Antarctic climate will change over the next century. …
