Topic category: Climate/Climate Change/Weather
Sea Level Rise
In time for the London Conference, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research released a study stating that if temperatures increase as little as 1.6° C (2.9° F) above the Little Ice Age, Greenland will melt and sea levels will rise by about 7 meters (23 feet).
There may have been an error translation, because the last two IPCC assessment reports (AR3 & AR4) did not recognize a Little Ice Age!
A quick look at the GISP2 ice cores from Greenland shows that for much of the past 10,000 years Greenland has been warmer than 1.6° C above the Little Ice Age temperatures [oops!], yet the ice is still there [oops again!].
Even at 3.2° C (5.8° F) above the Little Ice Age the temperature does not exceed -28.5° C (-19.3° F). [A bit difficult to melt ice at those temperatures!]
Please see links in Notes below.
Science & Environmental Policy Project
"Multistability and critical thresholds of the Greenland ice sheet," By Alexander Robinson,Reinhard Calow, Andrey Ganopolski, Nature Climate Change, Mar 11, 2012 8, http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1449.html
[SEPP Comment: The study does not explain the enormous accumulation of snow and ice on the top of the Greenland ice cap.]
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