Two forthcoming reports on the western Antarctic ice sheet confirm previous fears that the ice's melt will increase ocean levels by as much as 13 feet within the next few centuries. They also suggest that the process has already begun — and is likely not reversible. The New York Times reports that both papers — one by NASA scientists, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, and one by University of Washington scientists to appear in Science — find that the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting because of naturally-occurring warm water welling up from deep in the ocean. None...
