Global warming can accelerate the increase in the level of the World Ocean
Rephotograph of Muir Glacier from the same location, 2005
Despite the fact that some scientists still evince doubt the reality of global warming, the vast majority of experts believe that the warming - it is a reality. His influence on the Earth's climate can be monitored in several ways. One of them - the melting of the polar ice caps, glaciers and rising water levels of the oceans.
Now the water is rising too fast, but if the temperature rise continues, it could be flooded many coastal regions. The Atlantic coast of North America is one of the regions most prone to flooding. The results of the study situation, which has led scientists to this conclusion, published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. One of them is the melting of the polar caps, glaciers and rising water levels of the oceans.
One of them - the gravity and the dynamics of the ocean waters. In some regions, water attack will be quick and permanent, in others - a slow and intermittent. New York and other cities in the US East Coast will see an increase in the water level by 1 meter by the end of this century. But it is only in the event that the average temperature will rise by 4-5 degrees above pre-industrial temperature.
If carbon dioxide levels will rise (and likely will), the annual average temperature rise to 2 degrees for several decades, and by 2040 the water level will rise significantly. Not long ago, the concentration of carbon dioxide record was made 400 ppm. Climatologists say that CO2 will not have less concentration of this gas will only increase. Worst of all have the Eastern coast of the US, as mentioned above, and Norway. Here, by 2040 the water level will rise by about 30-40 cm. This is quite a lot, so that not all coastal regions will be able to adapt to such changes. And after 2040 warming will advance even more rapidly.
"Coastal rapidly expanding city and vulnerable tropical coastal ecosystems will have to adapt to the rise of water level very quickly if the temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius," - says Svetlana Zhevrezheva, a researcher at the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
According to other climate scientists, the level of the oceans of water is constantly rising, and the rate of rise of water level will be higher than would be faster to increase the average annual temperature. New temperature records yet to come. 2015 was recognized as the warmest in the history of observations, but in the next decade, this record is an average, because the front - a significant increase in the average temperature. In many ways, this situation is caused by the increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's atmosphere. Even if the increase in CO2 concentration to stop warming continues, reaching a peak in 2040.
Tebunginako Village, Kiribati. Photo by Vlad Sokhin
But the limitation of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere will mean that the impact of climate change on a number of regions will not be as strong as in the case of a constant increase in CO2 concentration.
" But if we reduce emissions drastically to the lowest pathway recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (RCP2.8), then we will never enter a new normal state for extreme seasons at a regional level in the 21st Century ," - said Sophie Lewis, a climatologist at the Australian national University.
If the warming continues, then by 2100 the majority of coastal regions will face a significant rise in the level of water - up to 2 meters. This is the maximum figure for the 5000 year, a similar situation, according to climate scientists, was observed in the Bronze Age, but then the warming has not been associated with the industry, and human activities. While the number of people in the world is not too high, so that climate change is not so much influenced civilization. In our time, when the water will continue to advance, and the temperature will rise, several Governments have to take care of the movement of tens of millions of its citizens. This includes about 2.5 million people from Miami, USA; 2.1 million people from Guangzhou, China; 1.8 million people from Mumbai, India; a million people from Osaka, Tokyo, New Orleans, New York and other cities.
For climate change should be more professionals who are trying to study the current situation that allows you to predict changes in the Earth's climate model in the future. It is important to study the dynamics of melting glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland. All this leads to an increase in water level in the oceans and climate change continues.
"Make decisions needed now. Develop predictions that are trying to predict the situation in 2100 is very interesting, but it should be of secondary importance for the people who make decisions", - says Tad Pfeffer, a glaciologist from the University of Colorado.
By the way, a group of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) under the direction of Chen Zhou believes that the current warming is somewhat constrain the dense clouds in the lower atmosphere. They reflect the sunlight and transmit the heat radiated by the planet's surface. Perhaps this is the formation of cloud cover caused the slowing down of global warming in the period from 1998 to 2013. As soon as the situation changes and becomes less clouds, Earth's climate may start to warm up faster. Accordingly, it will affect the speed of raising the level of the World Ocean.