The Arctic is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to global warming. According to data the from Norwegian Meteorological Office, the region is warming 5-7x as quickly as the rest of the planet. The dramatic effects of this warming can be seen on Svalbard - an archipelago high inside the Arctic circle. Background warming, combined with an additional 5°C temperature anomaly this summer, has led to record ice loss from the islands. And this melting land ice will lead to higher sea levels.
While melting ice from Svalbard won’t have a significant effect on sea levels on its own, it raises concerns for larger land masses such as Greenland. A total melt of Greenland’s ice sheet would increase sea levels by a whopping 7.4 metres - displacing hundreds of millions of people and drowning entire island states.
The warning signs are clear. We all need to be reducing our own emissions (and demanding governments and corporations to do the same).
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