Average temperatures in West Antarctica rise 4.3 degrees since
1950s. The region's warming is nearly twice as much as expected
and one of the most rapid on the planet. Annual average
temperatures at the Byrd research station in West Antarctica had
risen 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3F) since the 1950s, one of the
fastest gains on the planet and three times the global average
in a changing climate, it said. The unexpectedly big increase
adds to fears the ice sheet is vulnerable to thawing. West
Antarctica holds enough ice to raise world sea levels by at
least 3.3 metres (11 feet) if it ever all melted, a process that
would take centuries. "The western part of the ice sheet is
experiencing nearly twice as much warming as previously
thought," Ohio State University said in a statement of the study
led by its geography professor David Bromwich. The warming
"raises further concerns about the future contribution of
Antarctica to sea level rise," it said. Higher summer
temperatures raised risks of a surface melt of ice and