Rob DeConto and Team Suggest that Sea Levels Could Rise Even More Steeply
Content
New research based on fossilized corals from the Seychelles suggests that sea levels may rise faster and higher than current projections estimate.
This research was conducted by an international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst—with Rob DeConto, provost professor of the College of Natural Sciences's Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences, serving as a co-author—the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Florida, University of Sydney, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and Victoria University of Wellington.
The team analyzed ancient coral formations to reconstruct past sea level changes. While many models predict global sea levels could rise by about one meter (3 feet) over the next century, the actual impacts will vary by location due to factors like ice sheet melt, ocean temperatures, currents, and land subsidence. The findings highlight the urgent need to refine climate models and prepare for regionally variable sea level impacts.
Forbes summarized this work in a recent article:
"Perhaps more importantly, the researchers noted that sea levels didn't rise at a constant rate, but there were periods of stagnation followed by abrupt pulses. Likely the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica—thousands of kilometers away from the Seychelles islands—didn't melt simultaneously as it is happening today."
— Forbes
Read more in Forbes.