nzherald.co.nz Thursday, August 18, 2033
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nzherald.co.nz Thursday, August 18, 2033
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Floating continents: icebergs in NZ waters Source: NIWA satellite data 03:00 18/08/2033
GLOBAL CATASTROPHE Rapid sea level rises inevitable
1000 km
Icebergs drifting to warmer water Following decades of exponentially increasing temperatures, and recently, years of an accelerated greenhouse effect from the plumes of methane spewing from the melting northern permafrost, the unstoppable path to a world with less land has truly begun. Unfathomable amounts of ice have sheared off the previously permanent ice sheets at each pole, from a combination of internal melting exacerbated by the massive weight of the ice above, and severely warming oceans. Chuncks of ice larger than some countries now float north into warmer water, drawn across the globe
by ocean currents. Experts predict the mean high tide mark to rise by an average of 4m worldwide. Large tracts of New Zealand will become uninhabitable, however the Goverenment and Civil Defence have issued statements calling for calm and promising a comprehensive long-term plan for the crisis, to be put into effect immediately. Details have yet to be announced. Prime Minister and internationally acclaimed DJ Max Key gave a short press conference late yesterday, saying only that he was confident the situation
could be handled and leaving details of the government’s plan for his scheduled television address this evening. He declined to answer questions on his father’s past record on climate change.
Frozen methane bubbles, an accelerant in recent global warming Photo: National Geographic