A new study has shown that West Antarctica is warming almost twice as fast as previously believed, Reuters reported. According to annual average temperatures at the Byrd research station in West Antarctica, the temperature has risen 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 Farenheit) since the 1950s. "The western part of the ice sheet is experiencing nearly twice as much warming as previously thought," Ohio State University said in a statement. It's one of the fastest gains on the planet and three times the global average in a changing climate, it said. West Antarctica holds enough ice to raise world sea levels by at least 3.3 meters (11 feet) if it ever all melted, a process that would take centuries. The United Nations panel of climate experts projects that sea levels will rise by 18 to 59 centimeters this century due to global warming.
