Irish Examiner view: We are treading on very thin ice
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It seems like every other day we are seeing new and even more catastrophic illustrations of how our world is being changed in front of our disbelieving eyes by climate change.
The latest astonishing warning came in the last few days when scientists warned that, unless global greenhouse gas emission targets are met, the world’s largest ice sheet could unleash sea level rises of over 5m.
The vast East Antarctic ice sheet, which is roughly the same size as the US, was previously considered to be less vulnerable to climate change than the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets which have been melting rapidly, but recent research has indicated otherwise.
Researchers found that if global temperature increases are lower than the upper limit set down in the 2015 Paris climate accord — 2C above pre-industrial levels — it should mean the ice sheet adds less than 0.5m to sea levels by 2500. Any temperatures increase above that has the potential to raise sea levels by up to 5m in the same timescale.
The decisions the world is taking today in terms of emission reductions will determine if it remains dormant as a very large ice sheet or if it is going to add to the sea level rise problems we are already facing.
UN general secretary Antonio Guterres has warned that the Paris Agreement is “on life support” and this recent research suggests this ice sheet is highly sensitive to even moderate temperature changes and is not as stable as we once thought. We are walking on very thin ice.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB