Even with carbon emissions cuts, a key part of Antarctica is doomed to slow collapse, study says

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

A new study says no matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an unavoidable melt. The study’s lead author says the full melt will take hundreds of years, but its slow addition of nearly 6 feet to sea levels will reshape where and how people live in the future. Researchers used computer simulations to calculate future melting of protective ice shelves jutting over Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. Monday’s journal Nature Climate Change says even if future warming is limited to just a few tenths of a degree more, it wouldn’t be enough to prevent collapse of part of the ice sheet.