This article, by Matheus Pupo, is part of a series highlighting members of the Office of Sustainability’s Experts Database. In a collaboration with instructor Hannah Monroe’s course, LSC 561: Writing Science for the Public, students interviewed campus sustainability experts and produced short feature stories.
Venice—a city renowned for its intricate canal system—faces increasingly frequent and severe inundations. With sea levels rise, the iconic St. Mark’s Square, a historical and cultural centerpiece, regularly finds itself underwater during extreme high tides. These floods not only threaten the city’s architectural treasures, but also disrupt daily life for residents and businesses. As we confront the reality of rising sea levels, the challenges faced by Venice underscore the urgency of global action to address climate change and mitigate its impacts worldwide.
The considerable rise in sea levels is increasingly attributed to the warming of oceans, which poses the risk of polar ice sheet collapse. Feng He, a Senior Scientist in the Center for Climatic Research at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW–Madison, is engaged in researching the implications of warmer oceans on Antarctic ice sheets from the climates of the past.
“We want to reproduce past climate change to better predict the future,” He said.
His research group evaluates future projections of climate and ice sheets by investigating past variations in climate and ice melting over thousands of years. They develop models and datasets to assess future projections in climate and polar ice sheets.
“The model is actually very good in many aspects, which helps the general public gain confidence in future projections,” He said.
His research group discovered that today’s global temperature is a lot like it was long time ago during another warm period with much higher sea level. This is a wake-up call, reminding us that we’re entering a climate state with a much higher sea level in the pipeline.
“Back then, the sea level was six to nine meters higher than today.” He said. “This is concerning because the future sea level rise could be even greater, as global temperature is still rising due to large-scale burning of fossil fuels.”
If the sea level rises by another six to nine meters, it could cause significant damage, possibly resulting in the submergence of buildings and roads in coastal cities and islands.
“Now, 40 percent of people in the U.S. live by the ocean. If sea levels were to rise rapidly, our infrastructure wouldn’t be able to adapt quickly enough to manage these changes,” He said.
Coastal areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level are especially at risk from the effects of climate change predicted for this century.
“With temperatures like those experienced before, and with even more pollutants in the air, things will worsen,” He said.
But He notes a key problem: we need more data to project how quickly these changes will occur. Although we have climate records dating back to 1850, showing gradual environmental changes, they can’t accurately estimate the rate of future changes. This lack of complete information makes it difficult to understand the true magnitude and speed of climate change. As a result, He and his group turned to studying climate changes in the past to help understand broader trends.
“Although this is an extra challenge posed by the short climate records, we have available data as a starting point,” He said. “Understanding how regional changes correlate with larger-scale trends also can be used as a tool to inform strategies and policies worldwide.”
As climate change intensifies, He points out the importance of transitioning to renewable energy sources more quickly, because fossil fuels not only contribute to global warming but also can cause serious health risks by polluting the air.
“I own an electric car, and I do feel like I’m doing something good daily for the environment,” He said. “Environmental protection should be a priority for everyone.”