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Melting Antarctic ice could have catastrophic consequences for coastal cities. Seeing the massive ice shelves with his own eyes helped him grasp the scale of the problem, says Prof Benjamin P Horton. According to Prof Horton, Antarctic ice accounts for 70 per cent of Earth’s fresh water. If all that ice melted, the world’s oceans would rise by almost 60m, enough to inundate Singapore, Tokyo, New York City, Shanghai and other coastal cities. One cause for concern is that continued global warming may cause some glaciers to cross a tipping point known as the marine ice sheet instability. Being able to determine if and when this might happen is crucial for climate projections because the resultant change is effectively irreversible.

Read the full Channel News Asia Commentary here.