As the drastic effects of climate change become prevalent, sea levels are expected to rise, a new study published in the journal Science revealed. In the study, a team of international scientists summarized more than 30 years of research on the significant effects and changes of the melting polar ice sheets and sea level.  

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Over the past three million years, global sea levels have elevated at least six meters (about 20 feet), above present levels. According to Nature World Report, the present statistics suggest a dangerous fact. Scientists also added the amount of melting caused by escalating global mean temperatures are quite alarming.  

"Studies have shown that both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets contributed significantly to this sea level rise above modern levels," Oregon State University glacial geologist and paleoclimatologist and study co-author Anders Carlson said. "Modern atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are today equivalent to those about three million years ago, when sea level was at least six meters higher because the ice sheets were greatly reduced."

Based on the study, climate change and sea levels are closely interrelated with each other wherein just a small amount of warming will have a significant effect. These impacts can be vital to coastal cities worldwide, which have underwent massive population growth and infrastructure over the past centuries.

There have been incessant warnings about the dangers that climate change can bring to Earth. And since the new study revealed that rising temperatures could lead to an alarming increase of the sea level, a slight increase could be disastrous to the hundreds of millions of people living in coastal areas.

If global mean temperatures continue to rise, coastal cities such as New York, Miami and Bangkok are at risk for increased flooding and storm surges. NASA also dreads climate change, which could submerged its launch pads in water. But the country most likely to sink first is Maldives, an archipelago comprising nearly 1,200 coral islands located south-southwest of India, Echo Examiner revealed.

Most of the islands in Maldives lie just 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) above sea level. And in order to prepare for imminent catastrophic effects of global warming and climate change, the leader of the nation is already seeking to buy land abroad to shift his population if the worst does come true.

In addition, low-lying cities of Tokyo and Singapore are also vulnerable to sea level rise as well as Dhaka in Bangladesh, which is one of the world's most populous cities with 14.4 million inhabitants, Environment News Service noted.  

"As the planet warms, the poles warm even faster, raising important questions about how ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica will respond," University of Florida geochemist and lead study author Andrea Button said. "While this amount of sea-level rise will not happen overnight, it is sobering to realize how sensitive the polar ice sheets are to temperatures that we are on path to reach within decades."

Due to the influence of increasing sea levels, the impact of global warming and climate change could be definitely enormous.  

Tagssea levels, global warming