The global sea level will only rise about 10 feet if the West Antarctic ice sheet collapses. While that may not sound so great to residents of coastal cities like New York or Los Angeles, it is only about half the previously predicted rise. Researchers led by Jonathan L. Bamber of the University of Bristol in Britain report their recalculation of the hazard in edition of the Journal Science.

Climate change could lead to a rise in average summer temperatures in parts of Britain that is nearly double the level which the European Union and others say is dangerous, a study said on Thursday.

The UK government has pledged to commit around $150 million to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund to be formed by Bangladesh to cope with the climate change.

Speaking in parliament, State Minister for Environment and Forest Mostafizur Rahman said formation of the fund is now at the final stage with donor agencies and countries promising the government necessary financial assistance.

There is "scarcely an instrument of U.S. foreign policy" that was not vulnerable to climate change, which scientists say will raise sea levels by melting glaciers and ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, Kerry, a Democrat, said at a Council on Foreign Relations meeting.

The Mortality Risk Index was issued by the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) before a four-day meeting of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction opening on Tuesday at which 1,800 officials and experts will examine natural catastrophes.

Climate talks made progress on Friday toward a new U.N. treaty to curb global warming but ended far short of calls by developing nations for the rich to make deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Four years of talks to widen the existing Kyoto Protocol have struggled to agree on how to share the cost of efforts to curb greenhouses gas mainly emitted by burning fossil fuels.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said on Friday that climate change and resultant sea-level rise might pose problems for Kerala, especially in low-lying areas such as Kuttanad. The Chief Minister was inaugurating the World Environment Day celebrations here organised by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment.

Environmental degradation is costing Pakistan about Rs 365 billion annually, and collective efforts are needed for conservation of the ecosystem. Dr Hammad Uwais Agha, the NWFP Secretary Environment, said this while speaking at a seminar organised by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the World Environment Day here on Friday.