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Last Updated: Wednesday February 02 2005 16:49 GMT

Ice caps 'melting more quickly'

Iceberg in Antarctica
Ice in Antarctica is melting more quickly than people thought, according to a team of British scientists.

The British Antarctic Survey (Bas) say this could cause sea levels to be rising more quickly as well.

They think over 13,000 sq km of sea ice in the Antarctic Peninsula has been lost over the last 50 years.

That ice used to hold back the movement of glaciers, and without it, they could be flowing into the ocean up to six times faster than before.

It's not known whether the melting is caused by global warming or is a natural event.

Professor Chris Rapley, from the Bas, said it would only be happening in a handful of places if it was natural.

However, he said studies had shown that it was happening in all three major ice streams in West Antarctica.



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