Sea levels could rise up to 5 feet by the end of this century, driven by warming in the Arctic and the resulting melt of snow and ice, according to this study by the International Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). This is more than two and a half times higher than the 2007 projection of a half to two feet by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Russia has lifted the ban on polar bear hunting for the first time since the erstwhile Soviet Union banned the practice in 1957, a move which has drawn flak from wildlife campaigners, a media report said.
A US backed proposal to ban the international trade of polar bear skins, teeth and claws was defeated on Thursday at a UN wildlife meeting over concerns it would hurt indigenous economies and arguments the practice didn't pose a significant threat to the animals.
A new research by US Geological Survey (USGS) has deter- mined that ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change, which could result in glacier retreat and sea- level rise if warming continues.
The world this year suffered the fewest number of natural disasters in a decade, but floods, droughts and other extreme weather continued to account for most of the deaths and economic losses, according to a UN report released on Monday. There were 245 natural disasters recorded this year, down from the decade high of 434 in 2005, said the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
Ottawa: The multiyear ice covering the Arctic Ocean has effectively vanished, a startling development that will make it easier to open up polar shipping routes, an Arctic expert has claimed.
London: A team of British explorers says that within a decade the North Pole will be virtually ice-free during the summer.
The Catlin Arctic Survey trekked an average of about 11 kilometers (six miles) per day and swam in freezing water to take measurements of the ice and snow.
