sea-level-rise

The chapter 'Drowning' from 'The Uninhabitable Earth' details the catastrophic consequences of sea-level rise due to climate change, projecting up to eight feet of rise by 2100 under current emission trends and potentially much more over millennia. It highlights the inundation of major cities, cultural sites, and entire nations, emphasizing the scale of displacement, economic loss, and infrastructure damage. The chapter also discusses the accelerating ice melt in Antarctica and the uncertainties in predicting the pace of sea-level rise, underscoring the urgency of human intervention.

The chapter explains the greenhouse effect and its intensification due to human activities, focusing on major and trace greenhouse gases and their sources. It details the resulting climate impacts, including more violent weather events, disruptions to ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, and complex challenges in predicting sea level rise driven by melting ice and thermal expansion. The chapter also highlights the vulnerability of ecosystems such as coral reefs and forests to rapid warming and considers the theoretical risk of a runaway greenhouse effect, emphasizing the severe socio-economic and environmental consequences of ongoing global warming.