Those two cities can't be saved from climate change and global warming, a new report claims.
There is now nothing that can be done to save the coastal cities of Miami and New Orleans, along with numerous others around the world, from rising sea levels due to climate change, claims a new report.
Millions of Americans will be affected by rising sea levels as carbon dioxide emissions go in check. It’s past the point of no return for Miami and New Orleans, but perhaps other cities can be saved by reversing the trend, according to a Washington Post report.
A research team led by Benjamin Strauss of Climate Central in Princeton, N.J., estimates that millions of Americans live in places that will be covered with water in 2100 and beyond, but humans have a choice of whether it will be much more than that by deciding today if it will curb carbon dioxide emissions dramatically. Otherwise, they state that the ice sheet of West Antarctica will continue to destabilize and melt into the sea.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is entitled, “Carbon choices determine US cities committed to futures below sea level.”
The research team found that for every degree increase (Celsius) in temperature, there would be 2.3 meters of sea level rise. The team said it s the best estimate with what scientists know today about rising sea levels.
Of course, it wouldn’t mean that these cities and people would be flooded over night. The 2.3 meter rise would take place over about 2,000 years. However, they noted that the rise in sea level could happen at a much faster place, and in any event it would force humanity to drastically relocate large populations of humanity, abandoning whole cities to the sea due to the encroaching waters.
Based on current carbon emissions, the world will definitely see a long term rise in sea levels of 1.6 meters, the researchers argue, which comes out to about five feet. If we continue to pump out carbon emissions at our current rate, that figure rises to seven feet.
Right now, it’s too late to save cities like New Orleans and Miami, they claim, but perhaps something can be done to save other cities and towns across the nation.
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