A DISASTER IN SLOW MOTION
‘Zombie ice’ massive threat to Irish coast Homes of 630million at risk globally
IRELAND could lose half a kilometre of coastline in a matter of decades if global warming continues to accelerate.
The map of the island will transform dramatically by 2100 with arctic ice and extreme weather conditions if ocean currents collapse.
A doomsday scenario is laid bare in a new RTE documentary entitled Rising Tides: Ireland’s Future In A Warmer World.
In a three-part series, which starts on Wednesday, Philip Boucherhayes journeys to Greenland and the Arctic Circle to meet climate scientists.
He confronts the alarming phenomenon of “zombie ice” with glaciologist Jason Box who warns of “a disaster in slow motion” unfolding.
Greenland’s glaciers are melting at a rate that is six times faster than 20 years ago, and twice the rate previously predicted.
The zombie ice – doomed ice still attached to thicker sheets – is no longer being replenished by parent glaciers now getting less snow.
Without fresh snowfall more than 120 trillion tons of doomed ice will melt even if carbon emissions are not cut, scientists have warned.
Prof Box explained: “As the climate warms the snow cover on the ice sheet is retreating to higher elevations.
“There has been, in some areas, a thousand feet of thinning at our ice monitoring sites, we get a lowering of two, three, four metres per year.
“Neighbouring glacial areas are moving much quicker, you get annual thinning of ten, 20 metres.”
If ice caps continue to melt at this rate it would see oceans rising by seven metres in a matter of decades. The feared collapse of the planet’s crucial ocean system would cause climate chaos, disrupting weather systems irreversibly.
Prof Box warned: “Zombie ice... we can see from satellite pictures that this area is doomed, I call it a disaster in slow motion.
“You’re talking about 500 billion tonnes of ice per year, this one is moving about two and a half kilometres per year.
“They doubled in speed between 2000 and 2005, warming ocean currents making them thin and then they just disintegrate.”
The trend means the homes of 630million people worldwide would be wiped out by the end of the century.
Ireland is considered high risk because of our reliance on the north Atlantic, which has circulation at its weakest in 1,000 years.
A five-metre rise in sea levels is predicted which would see our coastal waters come 500-metres inland in some places washing away entire communities.
Ireland is considered high risk because of reliance on the Atlantic
Oceanographer Matthew England warned that we are at a tipping point and now is the time to plan for the so-called “new normal”.
He said: “It means re-engineering where we live, where we find our water, where we grow our food. This is not something you can do in a hurry. That amount of freshwater from Greenland is just remarkable... when it flows into the ocean it dilutes the water there.
“Losing salt means losing density, losing density means it slows down, eventually shuts down. So it’s a real threat to the north Atlantic.
“It’s such a vital part of the climate system – you disrupt it, you change the weather patterns. This term ‘a new normal’, I find it very difficult because there is no new normal, the pace of change is very rapid.
“What we have at the moment is a sledgehammer clubbing the planet and it’s only going to get worse.
“We need to control our climate, stay stable, otherwise we’re going to have to start doing a lot to support life on earth.
“I get home at night and I see the kids, and I’m deeply saddened. This is a great planet.
“I won’t be around to see my projections and how they play out, but bloody hell, everybody else will.”
Rising Tides: Ireland’s Future In A Normal World airs on RTE One on Wednesday at 9.35pm.
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