Climate change quickens, seas feared up 2 metres

* 26 scientists say ice melting, CO2 emissions up sharply
* Seas could rise up to 2 metres at worst by 2100
* Experts urge Copenhagen summit to cap greenhouse emissions

OSLO, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Global warming is happening faster than expected and at worst could raise sea levels by up to 2 metres (6-1/2 ft) by 2100, a group of scientists said on Tuesday in a warning to next month’s U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen.

In what they called a “Copenhagen Diagnosis”, updating findings in a broader 2007 U.N. climate report, 26 experts urged action to cap rising world greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 or 2020 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

“Climate change is accelerating beyond expectations,” a joint statement said, pointing to factors including a retreat of Arctic sea ice in summer and melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. “Accounting for ice-sheets and glaciers, global sea-level rise may exceed 1 metre by 2100, with a rise of up to 2 metres considered an upper limit,” it said. Ocean levels would keep on rising after 2100 and “several metres of sea level rise must be expected over the next few centuries.”

Many of the authors were on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which in 2007 foresaw a sea level rise of 18-59 cms (7-24 inches) by 2100 but did not take account of a possible accelerating melt of Greenland and Antarctica. Coastal cities from Buenos Aires to New York, island states such as Tuvalu in the Pacific or coasts of Bangladesh or China would be highly vulnerable to rising seas.

“This is a final scientific call for the climate negotiators from 192 countries who must embark on the climate protection train in Copenhagen,” Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in a statement.

contd…. http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSGEE5AN1H2

Sea level rise will affect Lanka’s marine ecosystem

Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem will be affected due to sea level rise around its coastal zone due to melting of the Himalayas. Therefore, the problem related to Himalaya is a regional phenomenon, Environment Minister Patali Champika Ranawake said.

The Minister was expressing his views during bi-lateral discussions with Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at the Prime Minister’s Office on September 1 during a Regional Climate Change Conference in Katmandu. The theme was ‘A vision for Addressing Climate Change Risks and Vulnerabilities in the Himalayas – From Katmandu to Copenhagen.’ Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Nepal Thosapala Hewage and Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal joined in the discussion.

The Nepali Prime Minister said serious negative impacts have been occurred on the Nepalese nation due to global warming and melting of the glaciers of the Himalayas which has already started.

There is a problem of the glacier lake outburst due to melting of these glaciers that has been in existence over millions of years, he said. There is also another threat of serious floods arising due to over flowing of the mighty rivers of Indu, Ganga, Sianyan, Muntushun and Brahmaputra etc., which originate from Himalayas, he said.

Scientists have warned that there is a high risk of transforming the Katmandu city which has the highest population density, in to a glacier lake as the city has been located in a plateau valley surrounded by a ring of mountains.

South Asian Himalayas are the source of the mighty rivers of the region that supply the world’s most populated flood plains. The Nepal Prime Minister said civilization of Nepal which existed over 10,000 years will be swept out due to drying up of all rivers once the glaciers, the main source of rivers in the country are melted.

Minister Ranawake explained that Sri Lanka is approaching a new era after defeating terrorism that lasted over 30 years. The Minister also explained steps taken by the Sri Lankan Government, under the direction the President, to speed up the process of sustainable development of the country. A 10-year program titled Haritha Lanka has been planned spanning from 2010-2020 to secure sustainable development in the country without depending on an oil based economy, the Minister said. Minister Ranawake conveyed President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s wishes to the Nepalian Prime Minister and extended an invitation to the Prime Minister on behalf of the President to visit Sri Lanka. The Minister also had bi-lateral discussions with Nepalian Environment Minister Ganesh Sharma and Ministry Secretary.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/09/08/news51.asp