Key Atlantic current at risk of collapse: Research

Scientists warned for the first time in a new report that melting ice sheets might be slowing key ocean currents at both poles, leading to "potentially dire consequences" for a greater sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast, according to research from the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.

"Current climate commitments, leading the world to well over 2°C of warming, would bring disastrous and irreversible consequences for billions of people from global ice loss," the report read.

According to the report, which was published Tuesday, continuing to bypass the 1.5 °C threshold is "extremely risky," as the longer it is breached, "the greater the risk of crossing tipping points for both polar ice sheets; many land glaciers; and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is a vital system of Atlantic Ocean currents that influences global weather patterns.

In the report, more than 50 scientists cautioned that if humanity continues with high carbon emissions levels for the rest of the century, the melting cryosphere will bring global ecosystem, social and economic impacts.

The report also noted that under a high emissions scenario, the southern Arctic would become drier as it would experience an altered water cycle, which would "influence Arctic sea ice, biodiversity patterns, and even the global climate by impacting ocean fresh-water storage and major Atlantic currents."

The scientists also warned that, based on the research, "the costs of loss and damage will be even more extreme, with many regions experiencing sea-level rise or water resource loss well beyond adaptation limits."