The Antarctic Ice Sheet stores water equivalent to 58 m in global sea-level rise. We show in simulations using the Parallel Ice Sheet Model that burning the currently attainable fossil fuel resources is sufficient to eliminate the ice sheet. With cumulative fossil fuel emissions of 10,000 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC), Antarctica is projected to become almost ice-free with an average contribution to sea-level rise exceeding 3 m per century during the first millennium...
"Over the next century, the projected sea-level contribution is consistently within the range of −6 to 14 cm given for century-scale IPCC-AR5 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report) estimates (5) (fig. S2)."
Fig. 2 - Sea-level commitment from Antarctic ice loss.
Given is the total sea-level change after 1000 years (yellow), 3000 years (orange), and 10,000 years (red) after year 2000 for each of the scenarios depicted in Fig. 1. The maximum temperature anomaly and the temperature anomaly after 10,000 years are given on the upper x axis. If all of the currently attainable carbon resources [estimated to be between 8500 and 13.600 GtC (4)] were burned, the Antarctic Ice Sheet would lose most of its mass, raising global sea level by more than 50 m. For the 125 GtC as well as the 500, 800, 2500, and 5000 GtC scenarios, the ice-covered area is depicted in white (ice-free bedrock in brown). For more details, see fig. S5.
Ref: Combustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science Advances (September 2015) | DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500589
Futuristech note from Scott Ryan:
From one end of the spectrum to the other, below are a few articles with different viewpoints on the aforementioned study. On any important story, we suggest reading the full study and then coming to your own conclusion of the data to help remove biases of editorialized versions . Just as this post highlights a specific aspect of the study, there are many more insightful data points within the study.
Nonetheless, be a good human to our Earth and do your best to preserve her for our future generations. Pick up trash, don't drive when you can bike/walk, rescue animals, support sustainable causes, help others, etc. Always remember, we are on a giant space rock spinning around 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) and orbiting our nearby star, the Sun, going about 70,000 mph (108,000 km/h)...
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. - Douglas Adams
Popular Science - 'WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE BURNED ALL THE FOSSIL FUELS ON EARTH?"
The New York Times - "Study Predicts Antarctica Ice Melt if All Fossil Fuels Are Burned"
National Geographic - "Just How Much Could the Sea Rise from Burning Fossil Fuels? A Lot."
The Guardian - "Burning all fossil fuels will melt entire Antarctic ice-sheet, study shows"