Glacier Melt Could Affect Finland’s Sea Levels Post 2100

Under the worst case scenario, glacier and ice sheet melt could cause Helsinki’s sea levels to rise by more than half a metre after 2100, says research published in the journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 

In the study, as reported by Eye on the Arctic, researchers from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and Finland’s Aalto University, offered new projections for the main sea level rise in Finland over the next century.

“The greatest effects of sea level rise will only be felt after 2100. If we do not succeed in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, sea level may rise by several metres over the following centuries. Such a great increase would have significant impacts in Finland as well", the FMI said in a news release.

The authors say that an amount of land still rises each year as it rebounds from the last glacial period, and currently protects Finland from rising sea levels.

But in future, the speed of sea level rise will eclipse the uplift as glaciers and ice sheets melt at increasing rates and the globe experiences the thermal expansion of sea water, the paper says.

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