"The rapid meltdown of polar ice could shut down a key ocean current by 2050, triggering catastrophic surges of sea level rise along the U.S. East Coast and dangerous climate shifts in northwestern Europe."
"New research by an international team of climate scientists documents a surge of global warming during the past 15 years that risks shutting down a key ocean current by 2050.
During a webinar Tuesday discussing the study, the authors said the rate of global warming since 2010 has increased by more than 50 percent over the rate of warming in the preceding four decades, surging more than 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.4 degrees Celsius) in just the past two years.
At the current rate, the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to somewhere between 2.7 degrees and 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5-2 degrees Celsius) is pretty much dead, said James Hansen, a former NASA climate scientist who led the team and whose 1988 testimony to Congress was one of the early public warnings about the risks of greenhouse gas emissions."
Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News February 4, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Climate Change Target Of 2C Is ‘Dead’, Says Renowned Climate Scientist" (Guardian)