Warmer temperatures in the atmosphere of the polar regions could cause unusual snowfall that could impact the southern continent's excessive sea level rise. The two biggest ice sheets of the planet, located at Greenland and Antarctica, were examined through advanced sea level calculations, and it was found that each of the sheets responds distinctly according to the climate available in their respective regions.
Antarctica and Greenland's Rising Sea Level Under Global Warming
The rising sea levels from the two biggest ice sheets were investigated by the experts through the help of climate models curated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC in their Sixth Assessment Report. The climate system update includes various insights from the attributes linked to Earth's changing climate, including the scientific and technical explanations, as well as the socio-economic impacts.
The change of sea levels around the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets were investigated through the collaborative effort of 44 institutions and more than 60 experts. Through the comprehensive research, PhysOrg reported that they were able to formulate a system that includes all the possible projections of the rise in sea levels located at the ice sheets. The study's main interest is just one of many projects that are consolidated in the assessment report of IPCC. The study also compared the initial findings with the recently released assessment.
Bristol School of Geographical Sciences expert and author of the study Antony Payne said that their team aimed to compare the early readings and the recent measurements of the sea-level rise model side by side. Payne added that they pursued to identify the difference that caused the new models to have more prediction models than the previous generations, as well as its effects on Earth's biggest ice sheets.
According to the data from the new model, the Greenland ice sheet will melt more than before and will cause a significant rise in sea level in the year 2100. But compared to the northern continent, the Antarctic ice sheet was projected to have a lesser change. The little effect was due to the relative impact of mass in both the polar continents. When the Greenland ice sheet melts due to warmer oceans, its loss of mass is 'countered' by the mass gain of the Antarctic ice sheet and usually results in an unusual snowfall on the southern hemisphere.
Rising Sea Level Will Exceed Past the Year 2100
But even though the two ice sheets complement each other, people should still be ready for the impending abnormal rise of sea levels. The experts theorized that the sea level rises at the fastest rate and will continue to increase past the year 2100. Payne said that amidst the prediction, it is still challenging to determine the future estimates of the mass budget as there are many possible factors that can occur.
The Antarctic mass budget, based on the study's conclusion, will not possibly be affected by warmer climates. However, Payne said that this result requires further examination in terms of sea-level rise and snowfall balancing. Among the most important data gathered from the study is that the two biggest ice sheets and their local conditions have varying reactions under global warming. The paper was published in the Geophysical Research Letters, titled "Future Sea Level Change Under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and Phase 6 Scenarios From the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets."
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