James Hansen, an indisputably important climate scientist and activist, alongside a group of other influential experts, has released a new, 52-page paper that revises much of mainstream expectations for global warming. Hansen has called it the most important work he's done.

A synthesis of paleoclimatology, climate models, and modern observations, the document suggests that global warming will have a more violent and catastrophic impact than previously expected.

The scientists involved believe that Greenland and Antarctica could experience ice melt at much faster rates than imagined (up to several meters in a century), and that the melt could create a feedback loop further intensifying the effects of global warming.

In short, the cold, fresh water from the melted ice sheets would trap a layer of warm seawater beneath it, leading to a process known as "stratification." Such "blobs" of cold water – which could perhaps already be forming off the coast of Greenland (see image above) – would mean that the warm water could reach the base of ice sheets and melt them from below, causing more stratification and melting.

Subsequently, the stratification could cause a slowdown – or even shutdown – of the overturning circulation in the North Atlantic and in the Southern Ocean.

All this could lead to cooling in the North Atlantic even as the equatorial regions continue to grow warmer. The temperature difference would in turn create more intense storms in the mid-latitudes.

Here's where some of that paleoclimatology gets involved, as archaeological evidence suggests historical periods with similar warming patterns brought storms so intense that they were capable of hurling massive boulders on to shore. BIG's designs for a deployable wall beneath FDR Drive might need to be fortified...

The paper isn't uncontroversial – although it's also far from fringe science. You can check it out in its entirety here. 

For related news and features, check out some of these links:

• Architecture of the Anthropocene, Part 1
• Last year was the warmest since (at least) 1880
• What the Paris Agreement means for architecture
• Jakarta, already 40% below sea level, is building one of the biggest sea walls on Earth
• The climate is getting hotter, and we're not doing nearly enough