Seas could rise 1.6m by 2100: Study
04:46 AM May 05, 2011
Quickening climate change in the Arctic, including a thaw of Greenland's ice, could raise world sea levels by up to 1.6m by 2100, an international report showed on Tuesday.
Such a rise - above most past scientific estimates - would add to threats to coasts from Bangladesh to Florida, low-lying Pacific islands and cities from London to Shanghai.
It would also, for instance, raise the cost of building tsunami barriers in Japan.
"The past six years (until last year) have been the warmest period ever recorded in the Arctic," according to the Oslo-based Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), which is backed by the eight-nation Arctic Council.
"In the future, global sea level is projected to rise by 0.9m to 1.6m by 2100 and the loss of ice from Arctic glaciers, ice caps and the Greenland ice sheet will make a substantial contribution," it said.
The rises were projected from 1990 levels.
Foreign ministers from Arctic Council nations - the United States, Russia, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland - are due to meet in Greenland on May 12.
Warming in the Arctic is happening at about twice the world average. Reuters
http://www.todayonline.com/World/Worldinbrief/EDC110505-0000032/Seas-could-rise-1,6m-by-2100--Study
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