El Nino poses grave threat to Antarctica

Stronger El Nino weather patterns may speed up the "irreversible melting" of ice shelves and ice sheets in Antarctica, which would have a significant impact on global sea levels, according to new research.

The research, led by scientists of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO, at Monash University in Melbourne, and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, adds to a growing body of scientific work warning that Antarctic ice melt will bring rising ocean level that will have a catastrophic impact on low-lying island nations in the Pacific.

A recent report by the BBC said there is now less sea ice surrounding the Antarctic than at any time since scientists began using satellites to measure it in the late 1970s.