19 march 2009
Climate change .

UP TO one-third of all Antarctic sea ice is likely to melt by the end of the century, seriously contributing to dangerous sea level rises, updated scientific modelling on global warming shows.The modelling is the first release of a landmark study being conducted by the global scientific body the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, made up of the peak scientific bodies from 23 countries including Australia. The early numbers put out by SCAR suggests the collapse of Antarctic sea-ice not only pushes up anticipated sea level rises but will threaten the numbers of native animal species including emperor penguins, humpback whales and several fish species.The initial release of research also suggests sea temperatures in the Southern Ocean are rising faster than in other oceans, and that ice melts in the Antarctic Peninsula and Western Ice Shelf will be greater and more rapid than expected.Responding to the release of the executive summary of the SCAR report, the WWF manager for Antarctic and Southern Oceans Initiative, Rob Nicoll, said the evidence was showing how quickly the effects of global warming were showing up in the Antarctic region. Ice shelves the size of small countries are crumbling away and the latest evidence from the Antarctic is showing that the effects of lobagl warming there are increasing in magnitude. Extracted from : http://www.theage.com.au/environment/antarctic-ice-melting-faster-than-expected-20090405-9t9v.html