RISE IN SEA-LEVEL MORE ACCURATELY

A new study shows that the collapse of an ice sheet in Antarctica up to 14,650 years ago may have caused sea levels to rise between 14 and 18 metres, data which could help make more accurate climate-change predictions.

The melting of polar ice could contribute to long-term sea level rise, threatening the lives of millions, scientists say. Sea levels have increased on average about 18 centimetres since 1900 and rapid global warming will accelerate the increase, putting coastlines at risk and forcing low-lying cities to build costly sea defences.

A rise of 2 metres by 2100 is predicted.

Full report on NewsDaily

KING COAL IS A DIRTY OLD SOUL

Even in so-called 'clean green New Zealand' the dirty old man, King Coal, wants to keep on wrecking the planet.

Why let that get in the way of making a very grubby dollar?

Full report here.

EARTH WARMING FASTER THAN EXPECTED

By 2050, global average temperature could be between 1.4°C and 3°C warmer than it was just a couple of decades ago, according to a new British study that seeks to address the largest sources of uncertainty in current climate models. That's substantially higher than estimates produced by other climate analyses, suggesting that Earth's climate could warm much more quickly than previously thought.

Full story at Science Magazine

OCEANS TO BE 20 METRES HIGHER

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 feet) higher than at present, according to research published in the journal Geology and reported in ScienceDaily

ACIDIFICATION OF OCEANS UNPRECEDENTED?

The world's oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring, says a new study in Science. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.

If industrial carbon emissions continue at the current pace, we may lose organisms we care about -- coral reefs, oysters, salmon...

Full story on ScienceDaily