Earth-Save

A new study by the National University of Mexico suggests that global sea levels could rise as much as 10 feet in the next 50 years if the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps melt rapidly.

The study analyzed coral beds in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and discovered that during the last warm period between ice ages more than 100,000 years ago, an entire layer of coral suddenly died, only to be replaced decades later by a new, smaller layer.  This indicates that sea levels had risen 10 feet in just 50 to 100 years.  And the only thing that could cause such substantial flooding would be the melting of the continental ice sheets.

“Scientists have tended to assume that sea level reached a maximum during the last interglacial very slowly, over several millennia,” said study leader Paul Blanchon.  “What we are saying is ‘No, they didn’t.’”

Story at FoxNews

An international panel of scientists has warned that he world is facing an increasing risk of an “irreversible” climate shift because worst-case scenarios presented just a few years ago are now coming true.

Temperatures, sea levels, and acid levels in oceans and ice sheets were already moving “beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived,” scientists said in a new report.  These are the conclusions from a three-day conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where two thousand researchers gathered to discuss climate change.

“Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor nations and communities particularly at risk,” the report said.

Story at CNN

According to research from British climate scientists, there is a 50-50 chance the Earth’s temperature will rise to disaster levels over the next century.  Such exclamations of doom make catchy headlines, but what does it mean in practical terms?

The scientists believe that a 2-degree Celsius increase in global temperatures would cause massive heat waves and droughts, many worse than the 2003 European heat wave that killed thousands of people.

But even with heavy cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 3 percent a year from 2015 on, there is only a 50% chance of preventing the temperature from rising that much.  And every decade delay in reducing emissions will cause temperatures to go up by another half a degree, researchers say.

Story at London Times