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Sea-level rise and impacts projections under a future scenario with large greenhouse gas emission reductions

Sea-level rise and impacts projections under a future scenario with large greenhouse gas emission reductions
Sea-level rise and impacts projections under a future scenario with large greenhouse gas emission reductions
Using projections from two coupled climate models (HadCM3C and HadGEM2-AO), we consider the effect on 21st century sea-level rise (SLR) of mitigation policies relative to a scenario of business-as-usual (BAU). Around a third of the global-mean SLR over the century is avoided by a mitigation scenario under which global-mean near surface air temperature stabilises close to the Copenhagen Accord limit of a 2°C increase. Under BAU (a variant of the A1B scenario) the model-averaged projected SLR for 2090–2099 relative to 1980–1999 is 0.29 m–0.51 m (5%–95% uncertainties from treatment of land-based ice melt); under mitigation (E1 scenario) it is 0.17 m–0.34 m. This reduction is primarily from reduced thermal expansion. The spatial patterns of regional SLR are fairly dissimilar between the models, but are qualitatively similar across scenarios for a particular model. An impacts model suggests that by the end of the 21st century and without upgrade in defences around 55% of the 84 million additional people flooded per year globally under BAU (from SLR alone) could be avoided under such mitigation. The above projections of SLR follow the methodology of the IPCC Fourth Assessment. We have, however, also conducted a sensitivity study of SLR and its impacts where the possibility of accelerated ice sheet dynamics is accounted for
0094-8276
L12604-[5]
Pardaens, A.K.
93a849ae-52ab-4bb1-ad74-0c154f280f60
Lowe, J.A
d6040e65-da30-4aa0-b77f-3c898cc0e07e
Brown, S.
dd3c5852-78cc-435a-9846-4f3f540f2840
Nicholls, R.J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076
de Gusmão, D.
27138f93-8cec-403e-962e-ba1b00b13fc8
Pardaens, A.K.
93a849ae-52ab-4bb1-ad74-0c154f280f60
Lowe, J.A
d6040e65-da30-4aa0-b77f-3c898cc0e07e
Brown, S.
dd3c5852-78cc-435a-9846-4f3f540f2840
Nicholls, R.J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076
de Gusmão, D.
27138f93-8cec-403e-962e-ba1b00b13fc8

Pardaens, A.K., Lowe, J.A, Brown, S., Nicholls, R.J. and de Gusmão, D. (2011) Sea-level rise and impacts projections under a future scenario with large greenhouse gas emission reductions. Geophysical Research Letters, 38 (12), L12604-[5]. (doi:10.1029/2011GL047678).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Using projections from two coupled climate models (HadCM3C and HadGEM2-AO), we consider the effect on 21st century sea-level rise (SLR) of mitigation policies relative to a scenario of business-as-usual (BAU). Around a third of the global-mean SLR over the century is avoided by a mitigation scenario under which global-mean near surface air temperature stabilises close to the Copenhagen Accord limit of a 2°C increase. Under BAU (a variant of the A1B scenario) the model-averaged projected SLR for 2090–2099 relative to 1980–1999 is 0.29 m–0.51 m (5%–95% uncertainties from treatment of land-based ice melt); under mitigation (E1 scenario) it is 0.17 m–0.34 m. This reduction is primarily from reduced thermal expansion. The spatial patterns of regional SLR are fairly dissimilar between the models, but are qualitatively similar across scenarios for a particular model. An impacts model suggests that by the end of the 21st century and without upgrade in defences around 55% of the 84 million additional people flooded per year globally under BAU (from SLR alone) could be avoided under such mitigation. The above projections of SLR follow the methodology of the IPCC Fourth Assessment. We have, however, also conducted a sensitivity study of SLR and its impacts where the possibility of accelerated ice sheet dynamics is accounted for

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Published date: 23 June 2011
Organisations: Energy & Climate Change Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 197915
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/197915
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: eae81b50-c98f-479c-b677-4821433ffae6
ORCID for S. Brown: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1185-1962
ORCID for R.J. Nicholls: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-1109

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Date deposited: 29 Sep 2011 07:49
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:31

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Contributors

Author: A.K. Pardaens
Author: J.A Lowe
Author: S. Brown ORCID iD
Author: R.J. Nicholls ORCID iD
Author: D. de Gusmão

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