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4mo ago

New Research Confirms 1.5°C Warming Locks in Irreversible Glacier Loss and Accelerated Sea-Level Rise

Scientists warn that even temporary overshoots of 1.5°C will lead to centuries of glacier melting, while slowing sea-level rise to manageable rates requires limiting warming closer to 1.0°C.

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Ice floats near the coast of West Antarctica on October 28, 2016. Scientists are concerned the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be in a state of irreversible decline directly contributing to rising sea levels.
ANTARCTICA - FEBRUARY 07: The glaciers are seen as the floes melt due to global climate change in Antarctica on February 07, 2022. Turkish scientists, within the scope of the 6th National Antarctic Science Expedition, monitored the global climate change and followed the glaciers that provide the heat balance of the world and decrease every year. (Photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Overview

  • A study published in *Nature Climate Change* confirms that exceeding 1.5°C of global warming, even temporarily, commits the planet to irreversible glacier loss and centuries of sea-level rise.
  • Critical tipping points for the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are now estimated near 1.5°C, significantly lower than previous estimates of 3°C.
  • Sea levels are projected to rise by 1 cm per year by 2100, even if warming is limited to 1.5°C, outpacing the ability of coastal defenses to adapt.
  • Scientists emphasize that slowing sea-level rise to manageable levels requires reducing global temperatures closer to 1.0°C, a more ambitious target than the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal.
  • Current warming of 1.2°C has already quadrupled ice mass loss from Greenland and West Antarctica since the 1990s, making them the primary contributors to rising seas.