Humans are being wide off the mark regarding severity of global sea level rise, said a team of researchers in a new study published this week in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The study team informed that the planet could experience much more rise in sea levels than previously estimated, thanks to climate change which is going to worsen in the future. The research team said that 2 degree Celsius target set by climate scientists and policymaker isn’t enough.

Several nations around the globe have pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit planet’s warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the next century, but these efforts are not sufficient to control sea level rise, suggested the study published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Currently, climate researchers are underestimating the severity of sea level rise and it could lead to a rise of several meters in world’s seas by 2100, said James Hansen, a renowned climate scientist at Columbia University and a researcher included in the study. Sea level rise of several meters could further lead to super-storms on earth, Hansen added. The famed researcher first warned about global warming in 1980s.

“We are in a position of potentially causing irreparable harm to our children, grandchildren and future generations. This is a complex story, but one with important practical implications”, as per Hansen.

The coastal water level rise alone will be the biggest problem for many of the coastal cities around the globe, said study researchers. Most of these cities will drown with the sea level rise of several meters, they added.

Many current climate models are not accounting for feedback mechanisms that create an association between the earth’s temperature rise and rise in sea levels non-linear, said the researchers. Melting of ice in Antarctica and Greenland is going to have unexpected consequences in the upcoming decades, they stated.

Hansen said the world should think about ‘gradually raising’ tax on fossil fuels so that a solution to the problem could be found.