Reason Aussies will no longer be able to visit popular holiday islands: 'Very worrying'
As the weather cools around Australia, tropical islands to the north are the perfect escape. But if you've been putting off travel, then this is the wake-up call you might need to go now rather than later.
Ice is melting and sea levels are rising faster than previously thought, and scientists are pretty sure low-lying regions of the South Pacific like Vanuatu, Tuvalu, and Micronesia will be lost over the next century, meaning you won't be able to visit them anymore.
Global warming currently sits at 1.2 degrees above temperatures before the world industrialised. The Paris Agreement sets a target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, but even if world leaders and industry slash emissions enough to somehow meet that target, new analysis indicates we won't be able to stop accelerated melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.
Sea level rises over the next centuries will likely be metres, an international team led by Durham University found, after it reviewed the world's best available data. Lead author and geologist Dr Professor Chris Stokes warned the melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets will see 'rates of one centimetre per year not out of the question within the lifetime of our young people'.
Speaking with Yahoo News from the UK, Stokes explained the problems aren't something to worry about in the distant future, they're already occurring. Asked if he was 'worried', his answer was blunt. 'I'm very worried,' he said.
What he's concerned about is the future of the 230 million people who live in an area vulnerable to one metre of sea level rise.
'If you look at the evidence we've presented in our paper, that means we'll have to move a couple of hundred million people, or spend money on coastal defences. Unfortunately, some of the worst-affected countries are those that can least afford to protect themselves,' he said.
Any country with a coastline is potentially vulnerable to these kinds of issues, but even landlocked countries may be impacted by migration. This is happening now, but the higher the warming and the longer it is sustained, the greater the sea level rise will be, and the more it will cost us in the long run to adapt.'
Globally, there is cause for concern when it comes to slowing global warming. Under the Trump administration, the United States is withdrawing from commitments to tackle the problem, and doubling down on the extraction of fossil fuels — the primary contributor of man-made climate change.
Even countries like Australia, which have net-zero ambitions, are continuing to approve large numbers of new fossil fuel projects. The nation is the third largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world and during the 2023-24 financial year, taxpayers handed over $14.5 billion in subsidies to these projects.
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As the scientists released their new report, which was published in the journal Communications, Earth and Environment, they urged leaders to pay attention to the 'emergency' that's unfolding.
'If you look at what a definition of an emergency is, it's an existential threat that requires immediate action,' Stokes said.
'Yes, things are moving in the right direction, but from a sea level rise perspective, they are not moving anywhere near quickly enough. There has to be a change in our ambition around the need for rapid and drastic cuts in emissions.
'The issue quickly becomes politicised — climate action is going to cost a lot of money and jobs if we aim for net zero by 2030, 2050, 2070. But it will cost an awful lot more if we don't take action. Sea level rise is not going to go away, this is not something we can push under the carpet, it's going to get worse and worse.'
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