Sentences with phrase «ice sheet disintegration»

A 2008 study led by James Hansen found that climate sensitivity to «fast feedback processes» is 3 °C, but when accounting for longer - term feedbacks (such as ice sheet disintegration, vegetation migration, and greenhouse gas release from soils, tundra or ocean), if atmospheric CO2 remains at the doubled level, the sensitivity increases to 6 °C based on paleoclimatic (historical climate) data.

Implications include (i) the expectation of additional global warming of about 0.6 °C without further change of atmospheric composition; (ii) the confirmation of the climate system's lag in responding to forcings, implying the need for anticipatory actions to avoid any specified level of climate change; and (iii) the likelihood of acceleration of ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise.

Sea level on a given date is inherently difficult to predict, as it depends on how rapidly non-linear ice sheet disintegration begins.

This would allow us to begin to understand how we could prevent some of the major tipping point problems that we can already foresee coming, even for 1.5 C warming, and to try and understand what it would take to protect and sustain important natural ecosystems such as coral reefs, or to prevent ice sheet disintegration.

The potential for unstable ice sheet disintegration is controversial, with opinion varying from likely stability of even the (marine) West Antarctic ice sheet [94] to likely rapid non-linear response extending up to multi-meter sea level rise [97]--[98].

Sea level on a given date is inherently difficult to predict, as it depends on how rapidly non-linear ice sheet disintegration begins.

If ice sheet disintegration reaches a point such that the dynamics and momentum of the process take over, at that point reducing greenhouse gases may be unable to prevent major ice sheet mass loss, sea level rise of many meters, and worldwide loss of coastal cities — a consequence that is irreversible for practical purposes.

If ice sheet disintegration reaches a point such that the dynamics and momentum of the process take over, at that point reducing greenhouse gases may be unable to prevent major ice sheet mass loss, sea level rise of many meters, and worldwide loss of coastal cities — a consequence that is irreversible for practical purposes.

Sea level will increase slowly at first,... but as Greenland and West Antarctic ice is softened and lubricated by melt - water and as buttressing ice shelves disappear due to a warming ocean, the balance will tip toward ice loss, thus... causing rapid ice sheet disintegration.

The risk of crossing thresholds in tipping points in the Earth system (e.g. West Antarctic ice sheet disintegration and Amazon dieback) increase

Based on observations from the Eemian and Holocene, we're approaching a tipping point after which ice sheet disintegration in the Arctic and Antarctica is inevitable, even though at the moment we're seeing more evidence of ice loss in the Arctic.

These are not runaway feedbacks, but together they strongly amplify the impacts in polar regions of a positive (warming) climate forcing... Augmentation of peak Holocene temperature by even 1C would be sufficient to trigger powerful amplifying polar feedbacks, leading to a planet at least as warm as in the Eemian and Holsteinian periods, making ice sheet disintegration and large sea level rise inevitable.»

My conclusion, based on the total information available, is that continued high emissions would result in multi-meter sea level rise this century and lock in continued ice sheet disintegration such that building cities or rebuilding cities on coast lines would become foolish.

Some of the recent modelling would say that if you can limit warming to 1.5 C, or ultimately lower, you're going to be able to limit and reduce or even prevent massive ice sheet disintegration.

Hansen thinks these sorts of changes would take several centuries, but he said we would have to deal with a «holy mess... as ice sheet disintegration unfolded out of our control».

Although ice sheet disintegration and the subsequent sea level rise lags behind rising temperatures, the process will become irreversible sometime in the second half of the 21st century, Overpeck said, «unless something is done to dramatically reduce human emissions of greenhouse gas pollution.

«If the ocean continues to accumulate heat and increase melting of marine - terminating ice shelves of Antarctica and Greenland, a point will be reached at which it is impossible to avoid large - scale ice sheet disintegration with sea level rise of at least several meters,» the report states.

Indeed, the long lifetime of fossil fuel carbon in the climate system and persistence of the ocean warming ensure that «slow» feedbacks, such as ice sheet disintegration, changes of the global vegetation distribution, melting of permafrost, and possible release of methane from methane hydrates on continental shelves, would also have time to come into play.

The potential for unstable ice sheet disintegration is controversial, with opinion varying from likely stability of even the (marine) West Antarctic ice sheet [94] to likely rapid non-linear response extending up to multi-meter sea level rise [97]--[98].

And to try and understand what it would take to protect and sustain important natural ecosystems, such as coral reefs, or to prevent ice sheet disintegration.

We suggest that ice sheet disintegration is a highly nonlinear process and poses a danger of rapid sea level rise.

Our simulations were aimed to test my suspicion that ice sheet disintegration is a very nonlinear phenomena and that the IPCC studies were largely omitting what may be the most important forcing of the ocean: the effect of cold freshwater from melting ice.

Indeed, the long lifetime of fossil fuel carbon in the climate system and persistence of the ocean warming ensure that «slow» feedbacks, such as ice sheet disintegration, changes of the global vegetation distribution, melting of permafrost, and possible release of methane from methane hydrates on continental shelves, would also have time to come into play.

Implications include (i) the expectation of additional global warming of about 0.6 - C without further change of atmospheric composition; (ii) the confirmation of the climate system's lag in responding to forcings, implying the need for anticipatory actions to avoid any specified level of climate change; and (iii) the likelihood of acceleration of ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise.

But ice sheet disintegration, under Business - as - Usual, will happen.

The rate of West Antarctic ice loss has been ominously increasing, and there are fears that if too much goes, the slow and long - term process of ice sheet disintegration could accelerate.