THE Greenland ice cap could collapse many times faster than forecast, the US government鈥檚 top climate modeller has warned.
On Monday, the UK government released a report saying that climate change was close to a 鈥渢ipping point鈥� that could trigger the ice sheet鈥檚 collapse over the next thousand years, causing sea level to rise by seven metres worldwide. It suggests that the melting would follow a wave of warmth pushing through the 3-kilometre thick ice.
In a recent interview with New 杏吧原创, Jim Hansen, the director of NASA鈥檚 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said the collapse of the ice sheet could be 鈥渆xplosively rapid鈥�, with sea levels rising 鈥渁 couple of metres this century, and several more next century鈥�.
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Hansen, who last week claimed that NASA was trying to gag him from making such predictions, says scientists have already spotted meltwater pouring down crevasses to the bottom of the ice sheet, where it could provide lubrication for huge swathes of ice to slip into the ocean.
