Madrid. Scientists at the University of Hamburg determined for the first time the magnitude and speed of changes caused by erosion on Arctic coasts due to climate change.
Ground heating, leading to breakage and landslides, can endanger important infrastructure and threaten the safety of local populations. In addition, these processes release carbon stored on the floor into the sea, which could alter the role of the Arctic Ocean as an important repository of this element and greenhouse gases. They could also contribute to increasing climate change, but until now there was not enough information about these changes.
“We have analyzed a series of scenarios, depending on the amount of greenhouse gases that humanity will emit in the coming years,” explained the lead author of the study, David Nielsen, of the Group of Excellence for Climate, Climate Change and Society Research. from the University of Hamburg.
“According to the study, not only is more and more land mass being lost in absolute terms; with each degree of temperature rise, the annual rate of erosion increases, in meters but also in millions of tons of carbon released,” he added.
If greenhouse gas emissions are left unchecked or continue to rise, the rate could more than double by 2100, resulting in erosion losses of up to three meters a year.
The new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, it provides important information for the protection of the coasts and the political and social planning of the affected regions.
According to Nielsen, the results “also show that a shift towards greater sustainability and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could slow the acceleration in the second half of the century. However, it will not be possible to completely stop the loss of land mass.”
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