Rising Sea Levels
Rising average temperatures have caused glaciers and ice shelves around the globe to melt. The immediate result of continued melting will be a rise in sea levels, one of the most dangerous effects of global warming. Oceans have already risen up to 20 centimeters around the world and are predicted to continue to rise at least an additional 55 centimeters in the next 100 years. The rapidly rising sea levels can cause catastrophic consequences for the Earth and its people.
Even a small increase in sea levels could cause enormous flooding problems for coastal areas, but if Greenland’s ice sheet melts, sea levels could rise by more than 10 meters. The result would be the complete disappearance of many coastal areas.
If Greenland’s ice sheet melts even partially, sea levels could rise by more than one meter. A rise of just one meter would flood all the cities along the eastern seaboard of the United States, and a six meter rise would bury a large part of the state of Florida under the ocean. The rise would have devastating consequences for island countries like the Maldives, which would be completely submerged in the Indian Ocean. Millions of people in Egypt’s Nile Delta region and in Bangladesh would be driven from their homes by the waters, and no coastal area would be spared.
Scientists assert that a temperature rise of three degrees Celsius would be required to make the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet a reality. Many scientists believe that unless the emission of greenhouse gases is controlled, the temperature increase is likely to happen in the next 100 years. Rising sea levels is just one of the devastating effects of global warming that cannot be reversed and can potentially destroy much of the Earth’s inhabitable land.