Sea Levels Rising Twice As Fast As Predicted.

Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the UN only two years ago scientists said on Tuesday in a new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets... are likely to push up sea levels by a meter or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states.

The new estimate appears to significantly worsen the predictions of a report in 2007 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which said sea level could rise by up to 59 centimeters this century. The IPCC estimate had been based largely on the expansion of oceans from higher temperatures, rather than meltwater and the impact of glaciers breaking into the sea.

Using the new model, 'we get a range of sea level rise by 2100 between 75 and 190 centimeters when we apply the IPCC's temperature scenarios for the future,' said climate expert Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Even if the world manages to dramatically cut the emission of greenhouse gases driving global warming, the 'best estimate' is about one meter (3.25 feet), he said.