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U.S. - Antarctic Ice Melts to Double Sea Levels

* U.S.

Antarctic Ice Melts to Double Sea Levels
Sea levels will rise twice as much as previously predicted due to the melting of Antarctica, threatening coastal cities, according to a new international study by scientists

Sea levels are likely to rise by about 4ft 6in globally by 2100 as polar ice melts, according to the study by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The report titled 'Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment' says that warming seas are accelerating melting in the west of the continent and that ozone loss has cooled the region, thus shielding it from global warming. The study also notes that rising temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula are making life suitable for invasive species on land and sea. The SCAR’s report sheds light on the subject 50 years to the day after the Antarctic Treaty, the international agreement regulating use of the territory, was opened for signing. Other previous reports have warned of sea level rise, but this is the first time that a major scientific body has confirmed that rising sea levels will threaten some of the world's biggest cities - Miami, New York, Houston and London - by the end of the century
Dec-01-2009 12:12pm