In today’s world, global warming is an ongoing issue society faces. On the southwest coast, the largest island, Greenland is melting at a shocking rate. Since the 1990s, the melting rate has been accelerating and could cause problems soon. One major problem is that global sea levels will drastically rise: “Greenland's ice sheet -- which contains enough water to raise global sea levels by 24 feet -- is melting as fast as at any time in the last 12,000 years”. Greenland is the world's biggest contributor when it comes to global sea-level rise because it contains so much ice that is beginning to melt rapidly. 
Rising sea levels not only affect the physical living conditions on Earth but also cripples the economy. The global economy is impacted because of the recovery of lost and damaged property. Recent studies reveal that rising sea levels “cost the global economy $14.2 trillion.” Compared to the United States national debt, it is more than half with at $26 trillion. In addition, sea levels can “expose as many as 287 million people… 171 million today.” The numbers are extremely high because the distribution of humans is closely packed together near coasts. Also, the majority of cities, globally, are located near the coast which explains the tightness of human settlements.
Based on today’s data in less than a century sea levels will rise as much as 3 feet. In the article it states “... for places like New York and Shanghai, 3 feet or more of sea-level rise could spell disaster.” This causes a disaster for animals because of habitat loss and the relocation of up to 680 million humans who live in low coastal zones along with 65 million people who live on islands. In conclusion, if greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere at the same rate than the issue of global warming will grow much worse.
Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/weather/greenland-ice-sheet-melt-carbon-emissions-climate-change/index.html
Author: Aj frantzeskakis
The graphs are really helpful to learn about this topic. It's scary! But, you did not include a byline. Please add one and EMAIL me so you can get credit for this post!
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