Trees Could Grow In Antarctica Within Century Says Scientist

ICE WORLD

Goodbye warm woolly jackets... hello bikinis...

by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Jul 12, 2006
Trees could be growing in the Antarctic within a century because of global warming, an international scientific conference heard Wednesday. With carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere set to double in the next 100 years, the icy continent could revert to how it looked about 40 million years ago, said Professor Robert Dunbar of Stanford University.

"It was warm and there were bushes and there were trees," he told some 850 delegates in the Tasmanian capital Hobart, the national AAP news agency reported.

The delegates are attending the combined meetings of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs.

Dunbar said climate experts were predicting a doubling of the levels of carbon dioxide by 2100, "but it actually looks like it's going to come sooner unfortunately".

Scientists blame greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, for causing rising temperatures worldwide.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Related Links
Beyond the Ice Age

ICE WORLD

Alpine Glaciers Could All But Disappear Within This Century

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
The European Alps could lose some 80 percent of their glacier cover by the end of this century, if summer air temperatures rise by three degrees Celsius. And if temperatures increase by five degrees Celsius, the Alps would become almost completely ice-free by 2100.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT India And Pakistan Ink Aid Pact Nine Months After Killer Quake Senate Votes to overhaul US Emergency Agency US Still Not Prepared For Hurricanes Wildfire Suppression Costs May Be Reduced Using New Model	CLIMATE SCIENCE Slab May Fall From Eiger Any Day Jellyfish-Like Creatures May Play Major Role In Fate Of Oceanic CO2 Catastrophic Lake Burst Chills Climate Tropical Ice Cores Shows Two Abrupt Global Climate Shifts
EARTH OBSERVATION Human Perception Of The Environmental Shapes Policy And Action Europe To Launch First Polar Orbiting Weather Satellite NASA Satellites Find Balance In South American Water Cycle SSTL Delivers Beijing-1 EO Satellite	ENERGY TECH Canada To Defend Its Oil And Uranium Exports At G8 Talks UK Conservative Chief Gets Approval For Wind Turbine At Home DOE Publishes Research Roadmap For Developing Cleaner Fuels China To Complete Four Strategic Oil Reserve Facilities This Year
EPIDEMICS China Clamps Down On Flu Talk Satellite Systems To Warn Of Health Threats G8 Vaccine Plan In Danger Of Failure Land Use, Land Cover Affect Human Health, Food Security	FLORA AND FAUNA Hot And Heavy Dinos Rules The Earth Major Initiative Proposed To Address Amphibian Crisis Animal Activist Turns Down FBI Corals Switch Skeleton Material As Seawater Changes
FROTH AND BUBBLE Hong Kong Leader Seeks Public Help In Clearing Up Pollution Nearly Half Of Chinese Chemical Plants Pose Major Environmental Risks Thirty Years After Chemical Disaster Italy Still At Pollution Mercy Air Pollution And Cramped Living Breeding Super Mosquitoes In Athens	ABOUT US Talk To Your Baby And They Learn To Speak Same Genes Act Differently In Males And Females Composer Reveals Musical Chords' Hidden Geometry FSU Etruscan Expert Announces Historic Discovery At Ancient Site

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement