The image shows melting on the ice cap of Eagle Island, Antarctica (February 6, 2020)|NASA Earth Observatory, by Joshua Stevens|CC BY 2.0
Reducing human-caused global warming to 1.5°C or less can help avert the meltdown of ice sheets, a new study indicates.
As the planet’s ice sheets melt, the sea levels rise impacting not only the coastal communities but also the weather patterns, and the water current, it endangers sea creatures lives and has a drastic climate change impact.
Drastic melting of polar ice sheets will raise sea levels which lead to the following:
-
Greater coastal flooding during storms—as experienced by New Zealand now due to cyclone Gabrielle.
-
Frequent nuisance floods, where coastal and low-lying areas get inundated in water during high tides.
Environment scientists say ongoing and future emissions of greenhouse gases are the major causes and the only solution is to cut them drastically. But the world is currently not on that path.
Some scientists believe once the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica begin melting, it will be difficult to stop.