Scientists warn that sea levels will continue to rise even with a halt to carbon emissions.

 Climate scientists have warned that sea levels will continue to rise by between one and 1.4 meters over the coming centuries, even if carbon dioxide emissions are completely halted.

The media office of Durham University in the UK explained that this rise is due to the irreversible effects of melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, as well as sea ice in coastal areas, as a result of ongoing global warming.

Professor Robert DeConto of the University of Massachusetts, USA, said that returning temperatures to pre-industrial levels will not be sufficient to reverse the melting of polar ice. He added that restoring these ice masses could take hundreds or even thousands of years, and if the ice loss is significant, it may require the start of a new ice age to achieve this.

He emphasized that this reality means that many coastal areas around the world are vulnerable to long-term loss due to rising sea levels. The researchers reached these results by analyzing data from several recent climate studies that detailed changes in the balance of ice mass in Antarctica and Greenland, along with previous studies that examined the melting of ice at the end of ice ages, a phenomenon similar to the current global warming.