UN panel sees seas rising up to 59 cms by 2100

Paris, Feb 2: World sea levels are likely to rise by up to 59 cms by 2100 and bigger gains cannot be ruled out if ice in Greenland and Antarctica thaws, the UN climate panel said today.

A climate report issued at talks in Paris said seas were set to gain by 18-59 cms, a narrower range than forecast in a 2001 report that had predicted a rise between 9 and 88 cms. It said there was better understanding of how water expands as it warms.

But it said that ''larger values cannot be excluded'' and that it was impossible to give a best estimate of sea level rises because of a lack of understanding about ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland.

REUTERS

>