NEW YORK — The possible effects of climate change are far worse, and could strike far sooner, than we previously thought, according to Dr. James Hansen, a leading climate change researcher who was among the first to warn the public about the serious effects of a buildup of carbon dioxide.
The former director of NASA's Institute for Space Studies, along with 18 other leading climate scientists, published a paper this week predicting rapid sea level rises could happen within decades, according to a New York Times report.
The researchers' primary claim is that as the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melt, a layer of cold, fresh water will build up over the ocean, trapping warmer, salty ocean water, with which it doesn't easily mix, underneath the surface. Thereby leading to a feedback loop that causes ice shelves to melt even more rapidly and slowing down and possibly even shutting down ocean circulation.
The scientists believe that this ice melting will cool polar regions of the globe and warm areas around the equator, causing stark temperature variances that could make super storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, which struck the US East Coast with devastating effect in 2012, far more frequent, according to Inverse.
To argue their case, the researchers controversially claim that storms during the warm Eemian period, 120,000 years ago, were powerful enough to lift massive boulders, 1,000 tonnes in size, from the bottom of the ocean and hurl them ashore.
Dr. Hansen and his team believe a multi-meter sea level rise could occur before the end of the century and envelop all of the planet's coastal cities.
Despite the dire predictions, Dr. Hansen, in an accompanying video explained that there may, possibly, still be an opportunity to reverse this worrying trend.
"I doubt that we have passed the point of no return," he said, continuing, "but frankly, we are not certain of that."
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