We see far greater risk of massive irreversible sea level rise (SLR) at 2°C, on a scale of 12–20 meters or more in the long term. The climate record of the Earth over the pat few million years is quite clear:
Sea Level Rise from Ice Sheets
We see far greater risk of massive irreversible sea level rise (SLR) at 2°C, on a scale of 12–20 meters or more in the long term. The climate record of the Earth over the pat few million years is quite clear:
Sea Level Rise from Ice Sheets
Glacial Loss
Tropical Glaciers
Few glaciers near the Equator, such as the northern Andes and East Africa can survive even today’s 1°C. Some of these were shrinking anyway after the last ice age; but global warming has speeded their disappearance by many centuries. Glaciers and snow in the northern Andes provided a reliable seasonal source of water, and their loss especially will impact rural populations in Peru and Chile.
Mid-latitude glaciers and Snow
Mid-latitude glaciers and snow in the Alps, southern Andes/Patagonia, Iceland, Scandinavia, New Zealand and North American Rockies can survive at 1.5°, but these glaciers will disappear almost entirely at 2°C, and snow cover decrease. For these glaciers and mountain snowpack, that half a degree spells the difference between sufficient seasonal water supply, such as in the American West, Tarim and Indus river basins; and water scarcity
Himalayas/Central Asia
The essential watersheds of the Himalayas/Central Asia at 1.5°C maintain around half to about twothirds of their ice. At 2°C, much more will be lost, with regional impacts on water supply and increasing political instability, especially as monsoon rains become far more unpredictable at 2°C as well.
