Effects of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere irreversible for the next 1,000 years: Canadian research

New research published in nature geoscience suggests the impact of rising Carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere will cause irreversible effects to the climate for at least the next 1,000 years.
Based on their findings, researchers estimate a collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet by the year 3000 and an eventual rise in the global sea level of at least four metres.
The research from the University of Calgary notes climate change affects the Northern Hemisphere differently than it does the Southern Hemisphere, assuming all CO2 emissions into the atmosphere were to cease immediately.
“The Northern Hemisphere fares better than the south in the computer simulations, with patterns of climate change reversing within the 1,000-year timeframe in places, such as Canada,” Jennifer Myers wrote in an article about the research for the University of Calgary’s online site UToday. “At the same time, parts of North Africa experience desertification as land dries out by up to 30% and ocean warming of up to 5 C off of Antarctica (in the Southern Hemisphere) is likely to trigger widespread collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, a region the size of the Canadian prairies.”
The paper, “Ongoing climate change following a complete cessation of carbon dioxide emissions,” by Nathan P. Gillett, Vivek K. Arora, Kirsten Zickfeld, Shawn J. Marshall and William J. Merryfield is available online at http://www.nature.com/ngeo/index.html