Free Republic

PARIS (AFP) – A predicted slowdown in Atlantic Ocean currents will cause sea levels along the US northeast coast to rise twice as fast as the global average, exposing New York and other big cities to violent and frequent storm surges, according to a new study. Manhattan's Wall Street, barely a metre (three feet) above sea level, for example, will find itself underwater more often as the 21st century unfolds, said the study, published online Sunday in Nature Geoscience. Sea levels vary across regions by up to 24 centimetres (9.5 inches), influenced in part by powerful currents that coarse around...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Warming air from climate change isn't the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles — so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out. Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels. But little attention has been paid to the impact of warmer water beneath the ice. Now, Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona and colleagues report the warming water could mean polar ice melting faster than had been expected. Their report was published...