EcoWatchIce Sheets in Greenland, Antarctica Could Reach Catastrophic 'Tipping Points' if We Don't Limit Warming
By Olivia Rosane
Nov. 13, 2018 07:41AM EST
SNIPPET:
Scientists just gave us another terrifying reason to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels: If temperatures push much beyond that point, both Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets could reach a point where nothing can stop them from melting.
An international team of researchers published this chilling finding in Nature Climate Change Monday. The researchers set out to study how the ice sheets would fare in a warming world, and the results were urgent.
"A big take-away is that the ice sheets, like many components of the climate system, likely have tipping points. Once they reach a certain amount of warming (~1.5 - 2.0°C),
positive feedbacks kick in and commit us to long-term ice sheet mass loss and sea level rise,"
study author and Rowan University School of Earth and Environment Assistant Professor Luke Trusel explained on Twitter.
Read more:https://www.ecowatch.com/ice-sheets-greenland-antarctica-warming-2619507205.html