Doomed To Melt: Zombie Ice Will Raise Sea Level Twice As Much As Previous Estimate

Glaciers in Greenland are melting. Well, that is common knowledge now. But a recent study has estimated that the rise in sea level because of the melting ice will be twice as much as the previous forecast.

The culprit behind this unprecedented development is what scientists call the zombie ice. The ice, as the name suggests, is dead and beyond repair. It will melt no matter what we do.

"It's dead ice. It's just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet," said William Colgan, co-author of the study and glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, in an interview. "This ice has been consigned to the ocean, regardless of what climate (emissions) scenario we take now."

The lead author for the study, Jason Box, who is also a glaciologist at the Greenland survey, warned it is "more like one foot in the grave."

The sea level rise will be at least 10.6 inches (27 centimeters), according to researchers. The inevitable ten inches "is a really large loss and will have a detrimental effect on coastlines around the world," said NYU's David Holland who just returned from Greenland, but is not part of the study.

According to the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, things could get further out of hand with the sea level rising by as much as 30 inches (78 centimeters). In comparison, last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report posited a significantly low sea level rise within the range of 2 to 5 inches (6 to 13 centimeters) from Greenland ice melt by the year 2100.

Even though zombie ice is still attached to thicker areas of ice, it is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers. Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, Colgan explained, as reported by NPR.

That's because of something that could be called zombie ice. That's doomed ice that, while still attached to thicker areas of ice, is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers now receiving less snow. Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, said study co-author William Colgan, a glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

The researchers believe that more than 120 trillion tons of ice are fated to melt from the warming ice sheets. For perspective, when this ice melts, if it were restrained only to the United States, the result will be 37 feet (11 meters) deep water level.

Now, 10.6 inches may not evoke a serious response. But mind you, this would be in addition to high tides and storms, making the repercussions deadlier. This sea rise "will have huge societal, economic and environmental impacts," said Ellyn Enderlin, a geosciences professor at Boise State University, who wasn't part of the study.

The exact prediction of the time period in which this will happen is ambiguous right now. But making an educated guess, the scientists believe that the event will likely happen by the end of this century, or at least by 2150.