The Limits of Adaptation

Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers hold nearly 70 meters of sea-level rise, and ice sheets are subject to thresholds where they lose mass for many thousands of years. Glaciers are losing ice very rapidly, with some disappearing entirely already with current warming; and re-growth may take hundreds of years. At what level does adaptation become essentially meaningless? A discussion between cryosphere scientists and people from low-lying nations on the limits of adaptation and need for preventive mitigation. Main Presenters: Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts Amherst, former Chair of the U.S. Polar Research Board; Dr. Regine Hock, University of Oslo; Dr. Georg Kaser, University of Innsbruck; Dr. Mark Serreze, Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center; and Alexis Haskins, Arctic Angels.