Antarctic Ice Sheet and emission scenario controls on 21st-century extreme sea-level changes

Thomas Frederikse (), Maya K. Buchanan, Erwin Lambert, Robert Kopp (), Michael Oppenheimer, D. J. Rasmussen and Roderik S. W. van de Wal
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Thomas Frederikse: California Institute of Technology
Maya K. Buchanan: One Palmer Square
Erwin Lambert: Utrecht University
Michael Oppenheimer: Princeton University
D. J. Rasmussen: Princeton University
Roderik S. W. van de Wal: Utrecht University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Uncertainties in Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios and Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) melt propagate into uncertainties in projected mean sea-level (MSL) changes and extreme sea-level (ESL) events. Here we quantify the impact of RCP scenarios and AIS contributions on 21st-century ESL changes at tide-gauge sites across the globe using extreme-value statistics. We find that even under RCP2.6, almost half of the sites could be exposed annually to a present-day 100-year ESL event by 2050. Most tropical sites face large increases in ESL events earlier and for scenarios with smaller MSL changes than extratropical sites. Strong emission reductions lower the probability of large ESL changes but due to AIS uncertainties, cannot fully eliminate the probability that large increases in frequencies of ESL events will occur. Under RCP8.5 and rapid AIS mass loss, many tropical sites, including low-lying islands face a MSL rise by 2100 that exceeds the present-day 100-year event level.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-14049-6

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