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To Predict Future of Polar Ice, Environmental Scientists Are Looking to Past
Over the past century, global sea level has been rising at an increasingly rapid pace. That means the damage done by storm surges will be more severe, coastal erosion will accelerate and flooding will become more frequent and more expensive.
But one of the most troubling things about that trend is that current models for predicting future sea-level rise are missing critical pieces of information – key factors that could help us better prepare for effects of rising seas on our communities and our economy.
A new study by geologist Lauren Simkins, a University of Virginia environmental sciences professor, however, suggests that she and her colleagues, who describe themselves as “glacial geologists,” have discovered a way to test important variables in the equation that could make those models much better at predicting how much sea levels will rise – and how fast.