World’s oceans are losing power to stall climate change

The world’s oceans have long helped to stave off climate change by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But that is changing, with devastating consequences for humanity in the coming decades, leading researchers warn in the special report on oceans and ice by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

More than 100 scientists from 30 countries contributed to the report. The IPCC released a 42-page summary of the analysis on 25 September at a meeting in Monaco.

The report projects that sea levels could rise by up to 1.1 metres by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. That is about 10 centimetres more than the IPCC estimated in its last comprehensive report on the global climate, which it released in 2013.

“We’re going to get sea-level rise for centuries,” says Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton University in New Jersey and coordinating lead author on the report’s chapter on sea-level rise. “The question is whether it’s going to be manageable or not.”

Read more about the findings of the report at the IPCC website.