A lot of scientists have come forward to contribute to the expanding body of research predicting rising sea levels in the coming time. When it come to studies on climate change, it is possible to encounter set of statistics that could oppose another.

Such is the case of the findings of two US climate scientists, who suggested that the actual prediction of rising sea levels is in reality double as compared to the most recent estimates.

Moreover, the two researchers have said that earlier climate models have underestimated the likely sea level rise in the next century, and the Antarctic ice sheet meltdown. According to them, the accurate estimates may indicate disaster for low-lying cities.

Emission of carbon dioxide at the time of Eemian and Pliocene era was an analog for present day levels, however, the sea levels in that era were above than today.

Robert DeConto and David Pollard, who are climate scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Pennsylvania State University, respectively conducted an experiment. With the help of a three-dimensional ice sheet model, they rebuilt the Earth as it was at the time of Pliocene nearly 3 million years back.

They also replicated conditions that prevailed at the time of the Eemian era, just roughly 125,000 years ago. Researchers found that at both the periods, sea levels were nearly 20 feet to 30 feet higher than present day.

DeConto said that the Greenland ice sheet meltdown can just explain a part of the phenomenon at the time of the Eemian and Pliocene. He said that most of it might have been caused by retreat on Antarctica.

The researchers mentioned that the Antarctic ice sheet is going to melt at a faster pace than estimated earlier, reflecting the melt rates from the Pliocene and Eemian era.