A new report published in the Nature Climate Communications journal Monday alleges the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is past the brink of preventable collapse.
According to the study, no further human intervention can stop the ice shelves from melting.
Once melted, the ice sheet is expected to raise the global sea level by several feet.
“West Antarctic ice shelf melting is one impact of climate change that we’re probably just going to have to adapt to, and that very likely means some amount of sea level rise we cannot avoid,” said study lead author Kaitlin Naughten. “Coastal communities will either have to build around or be abandoned.”
