How Unstable are the Ice Masses on Greenland and Antarctica?


Earth101

Published on Aug 22, 2016

Natural climate changes in Earth’s history have been accompanied by huge sea-level changes: After the last Ice Age, global sea levels rose by 120 meters. We still have enough ice on Earth to raise sea levels by a further over 60 meters. How stable are these huge ice masses in the face of global warming?

Stefan Rahmstorf obtained his PhD in oceanography at Victoria University of Wellington in 1990. He has worked as a scientist at the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute, at the Institute of Marine Science in Kiel and since 1996 at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. His work focuses on the role of the oceans in climate change.

In 1999 Rahmstorf was awarded the $ 1 million Centennial Fellowship Award of the US-based James S. McDonnell foundation. Since 2000 he teaches Physics of the Oceans as a professor at Potsdam University. Rahmstorf served from 2004–2013 in the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and was one of the lead authors of the 4th IPCC Assessment Report.

Dr. Rahmstorf has published over 100 scientific papers (30 in leading journals such as Nature, Science and PNAS) and co-authored four books. Available in English are Our Threatened Oceans (2009, with Katherine Richardson) and The Climate Crisis (2010, with David Archer).

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

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