Melting glaciers 'threaten UK'
Melting ice in the Arctic could end up costing Britain billions of pounds. Leading scientists have told ITV News that the country needs to prepare now for the increased threat of flooding caused by rising sea levels.
Sea level rise dramatically increases UK flood risk
Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey has warned that a 50cm rise in sea levels would dramatically increase the risk of flooding in London and the rest of the UK.
The Thames Barrier is designed to protect London against all but a one-in-a-thousand year storm surge, but if such a sea rise occurred the level of protection would fall to one-in-a-hundred years.
Such a rise would be at the more extreme end of current IPCC predictions, but some scientists say a 1m rise by 2100 is possible.
Professor Vaughan also says that the IPCC predictions did not fully take into account loss of ice from Greenland and Antartica - something he is working to remedy.
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Experts say melting glaciers are raising UK flood risk
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Met Office investigating Arctic link to UK's record cold
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