Even If Paris Accord Far Exceeds Expectatations, Glacier & Ice Sheet Melt Locked In For Milennia

The melting of polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers will likely continue for thousands of years, causing irreversible sea level rise, even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, according to a new report published last week during the climate negotiations in Paris.

Sea levels could rise 13 to 33 feet or more unless far more ambitious steps are quickly taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report issued by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, a nonprofit research and policy organization based in Burlington, Vermont.

"Even if we stopped all warming today and we stayed at this level, we are looking at about 1 meter [3.3 feet] of sea level rise by 2300," said Pam Pearson, lead author of the report and director of the ICCI, who presented her findings on the sidelines of the Paris talks. "The temperatures that we are reaching even today, let alone in two or three or four decades, could lock in changes that aren't going to be reversible on a human timescale."

The findings show that achieving the ambitious goals set by the historic Paris Agreement won't be enough to avert catastrophic sea level rise and severe water shortages in areas dependent on glaciers. The global climate accord set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to hold global warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius since the preindustrial period, setting a preferred limit of 1.5 degrees. Earth has already warmed by more than 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) since the 1850s. "We are in a very high-risk zone at 2 degrees. We can constrain that risk to some extent if we keep it down to 1.5 degrees, but the lower the better," Pearson said.

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http://insideclimatenews.org/news/17122015/centuries-melting-locked-in-polar-ice-scientists-greenland-arctic-climate-change