A new study by renowned climate scientist James Hansen reveals new findings about the irreversible effects of climate change on the environment, ecosystems and to humans as well. Hansen is currently the director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program at Columbia University Earth Institute, who is also known for his Congressional testimony on climate change in 1988 and his numerous Earth advocacies.

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In his new study entitled "Ice melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms", his findings reveal implications of climate change and global warming where humans will soon enter a period where the effects of this global phenomena are now permanent. The rate of global warming is now raising sea levels up to several meters high that will become a reality in this century. This can lead to the world's largest coastal cities disappearing, submerging underwater such as New York and Miami. Hanson states in his video accompanying his research:

"The most immediate threat is the chances of oceans overturning circulations shutting down in the North Atlantic and Southern oceans where superstorms come in. When light freshwater are added to upper layers of the ocean, it will begin to to shut down North Atlantic Deep Water formation and Antarctic Bottom Water formation, which will have enormous consequences in future decades, when full shutdown occurs."

In this new study, Hansen also revealed evidence that the North Atlantic ocean became cooler some 120,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. During this time, Earth's tropical regions are only one degree warmer than it is today due to the tilt in the planet's axis. New research reveals that during the last Ice Age, evidence showed that powerful superstorms can generate gigantic waves that can transport and throw 1,000 ton boulders onto the shores of Bahamas. Hansen adds:

"Greenland's ice melt can become large enough to cause full shut down the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation),  where it will become permanent as far as the public is concerned. It will take 700 years for the AMOC to get moving again."

Hansen also warns that superstorms are just a great consequence of climate change and global warming, but the the most pressing concern are rising global sea levels where paleoclimate data presents clear evidence that when ice sheets melt, they melt rapidly. This meltwater has already been occurring 10 to 20 years earlier than previously estimated, as Hansen explains:

"When ice sheet mass loss has a 10 year doubling time, meter scale sea level rise is possible in about 50 years, and multi meter sea level rise, 10 years later. A 20 year doubling time would require about 100 years. Data records are too short but it may be too late to prevent sea level rise of several meters and loss of all coastal cities would be inevitable."