Climate change is impacting the earth like never before. The ever-rising sea level is considered as a potential threat to coastal cities. In such a scenario, NASA has come up with a tool which will help in projecting when the coastal inundation will occur in your city.
The tool is so effective that it can actually pinpoint specific glaciers and ice sheets which are contributing to the local sea level rise for particular coastal cities. It is so effective that one can actually get a first-hand experience of what repercussion global warning will be having on coastal cities.
Sea-levels have already risen by almost 7-8 inches since 1900 and half of it has been witnessed in last 25 years. This data shows intimidating facts about the sudden rise in the sea levels. The idea about the future is quite useful for further planning.
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If the projections are to be believed which says that there will be a sea-level rise of 1-4 feet across the globe by 2100. But, it is a thing to take cognizance that the rise will not be uniform all across the globe. It may vary in cities based in different parts of the world.
Scientists have challenge to understand how the sea-level rise will be distributed across the world. It has been made out that one of the most important contributors to sea-level rise is melting of land ice from ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as glaciers worldwide. But, how these waters will affect the sea-levels in respective cities across the world is difficult to ascertain.
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However, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have become successful in developing a tool which will help in knowing which glaciers will affect sea-level rise in particular city. The research was published in the journal Science Advances which is also available online.
The study shows how melting glaciers will affect sea-level in 293 port cities across the world. It also helps in knowing which parts of the glaciers are responsible for sea-level rise in particular city.
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If we take example of New York and London, then it was found that there is great impact of Greenland melting in these cities. The study shows that all the quadrants of Greenland ice sheets are responsible for sea-level rise across the entire planet. While the New York is largely affected by the northwest and northeast part of the Greenland ice sheets, London is affected by the northern most part of the glacier.
In particular, London is getting affected by the melting of ice from northwest portion of Greenland. It is quite surprising that the part of glacier which will affect the city is located farthest from it. And, it is quite common for almost all the coastal cities across the globe. The coastal cities are vulnerable to melting of ice from farthest places. This is happening because of the gravitational forces.
Sydney is also under great risk of being inundated. The melting of ice sheets of northeast and northwest coasts of Antarctica will drown Sydney. It is said that the glaciers which are in proximity to Australian city are less likely to affect it.
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An author of the study explains that the ice which are melting are so heavy that it modifies the gravitational field which means that places near the melting ice will witness drop in the sea level whereas farther places will witness rise in the sea-levels.
The new tool is especially handy from the perspective that it will help coastal cities in planning how to alleviate the impact of melting ice on them. City planners will prepare mitigation techniques to deal with coastal inundation.
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The study also showed that the different glaciers are melting at very different rates. Jakobshavn is the biggest ice loser from Greenland and is melting fast at the moment. Zachariae has begun to lose ice and is looking menacing. But, still there is nothing like Jakobshavn. Petermann is doing best at the moment by holding it.
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As far as Antarctica is concerned, it is also melting and slated to have differential effect across the globe. Antarctica also matters as the rate at the ice mass is larger as compared to the Greenland. Antarctica is also melting at a different rate like Greenland. The places where substantial ice loss is witnessed are west Antarctica and the Antarctic peninsula. The New York city have threat from west Antarctica.
However, the current research does not take into account all the aspects of sea level changes. The shifting ocean currents have the potential to redistribute the mass of the oceans and change sea levels.
Image Source: lima.nasa.gov
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