Sea level warning!

Miami : Scientists who study patterns of natural shifts in the Earth’s climate said yesterday they have uncovered a “worrisome” signal that major sea level rise could be on the way.

The findings in the journal Science show that ocean surface temperatures during the Earth’s last warm period, some 125,000 years ago, were remarkably similar to today.

But what concerns scientists is that sea level back then was 20-30 feet (six to nine meters) above what it is today.

“The trend is worrisome,” said the report led by researchers at Oregon State University, University College Dublin, the University of Wisconsin and the Science Museum of Virginia.

“Collectively, these results may help scientists better understand how oceans will respond to modern warming.”

Our planet goes through periods of warm and cold that last tens of thousands of years, and are influenced by changes in Sun exposure caused by natural variations in the Earth’s orbit, combined with the influence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The last time the climate was unusually warm -- in the absence of human influence -- was about between 116,000 and 129,000 years ago, during what is known as the Last Interglacial Period.

It was one of the warmest periods in the last 800,000 years, according to the report. 

Earth breaks heat record 

Meanwhile, another report by US scientists suggest that last year, the Earth sweltered under the hottest temperatures in modern times for the third year in a row. 

Temperatures spiked to new national highs in parts of India, Kuwait and Iran, while sea ice melted faster than ever in the fragile Arctic, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Taking a global average NOAA found the data for “2016 was the highest since record keeping began in 1880,” said the announcement.