Melting Antarctic could double sea level rise
Melting Antarctic could double sea level rise
Also In The News
|
A Greek-owned oil tanker bound for the US has been hijacked off the coast of Somalia. |  |
Tuesday, 01, Dec 2009 12:51
By Alex Steger.
Sea levels could rise by double their predicted rate due to Antarctic ice melting, according to a new report.
The ice loss could see levels rise by 1.4m by 2100.
Previous research on sea levels had predicted a rise of just 59cm by the end of the century. Scientists had long thought that Antarctica's continent-sized ice sheet was resistant to global warming, and that the more vulnerable West Antarctic ice block would remain intact for thousands of years to come.
The new research which comes in a report from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has though found that ice in the west region is already melting due to temperature increases.
The continent had been shielded from the effects of global warming due to the hole in the ozone layer which had cooled temperatures in the region. Scientists now believe this hole will heal over the next 50 to 60 years.
John Turner, head of climate research for the British Antarctic Survey, said: "The most astonishing evidence is the way that one man-made environmental impact, the ozone hole, has shielded most of Antarctica from another, global warming."
The 1.4m rise by the end of the century is based on water entering the ocean from Antarctica, Greenland, and land glaciers such as the Himalayas.
Dr Colin Summerhayes, executive director of SCAR, said: "Anybody who lives in coastal cities needs to be slightly worried by projections of one metre or more."
It had previously been thought impossible to measure ice melt in the region but new information from satellites and ice cores, as well as innovative measures such as putting temperature gauges on elephant seals have given researchers new insights.