Clap Harder!

One plausible road to climate catastrophe would be a rapid rise in sea level. The IPCCs most recent report estimated a maximum sea level rise of a couple of feet this century, but put in a huge caveat: meltdown of Antarctica and Greenland was not figured in for lack of adequate data.

Data is trickling in, and the signs are ominous.

Climatic changes appear to be destabilizing vast ice sheets of western Antarctica that had previously seemed relatively protected from global warming, researchers reported yesterday, raising the prospect of faster sea-level rise than current estimates.

It has become much more plausible that the century's sea level rise might be measure in meters rather than inches. This would be catastrophic for several countries and devastating for coastal cities in much of the world.

Note to denialists everywhere: clap harder.

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