Polar ice sheets are melting faster than expected and could push sea levels up as much as six meters by 2100, scientists warn in two new studies.Based on current warming trends, average temperatures could jump at least 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, resembling the last great global warming surge 129,000 years ago when seas rose that much.
“This is a real eye-opener set of results,” said Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona, co-author of the studies with Bette Otto-Bliesner of the Colorado National Center for Atmospheric Research. “The last time the Arctic was significantly warmer than the present day, the Greenland Ice Sheet melted back the equivalent of two to three meters of sea level.”
[SOURCE: The Standard - China's Business Newspaper ]
