Global warming rate 'alarming'

2006-01-31 09:57

London - Global warming could cause ice at both poles of the earth to start melting this century, driving up sea levels, according to a major study published on Monday by the British government.

The study, "Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change", collates evidence presented by scientists at a conference staged a year ago ahead of the 2005 Group of Eight (G8) summit, where Britain placed global warming high on the agenda.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair added his voice to the warning on Monday.

"It is clear from the work presented that the risks of climate change may well be greater than we thought," Blair said in the study's foreword.

"It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialisation and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable."

The consensus view among scientists, the document warned, is of large-scale and irreversible disruption to the planet's climate system if temperatures rise by more than 3 degrees Celsius above current levels.

Such a rise is well within the range of climate change projections for the century, it said, warning: "In many cases the risks are more serious than previously thought."

- AFP