Polar Survey Shows Warming May Increase Sea Levels More Than Previously Predicted

摘要

A recent scientific survey of the arctic and Antarctic polar regions showed mounting evidence that global warming is leading to significant changes in the regions' environment, which will have negative consequences for the world as a whole, according to a report made public Feb. 25. Experts with the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) told reporters in Geneva their joint research showed declining snow and ice coverage and warming ocean temperatures leading to rising sea levels. During the summers of 2007 and 2008, the minimum extent of year-round ice in the arctic fell to its lowest level since satellite records began 30 years ago, the survey noted, with an "unprecedented" rate of sea-ice drift. The minimum extent "decreased by roughly one million square kilometers [386,100 square miles]," the survey noted. "In addition, the North Pole region was covered only in relatively thin first-year ice in mid-winter for the first time in the observational record."