Source: Xinhua

04-07-2009 12:04

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for enhanced protection of the Earth's polar regions and tighter controls on cruise ships and tourists in Antarctica to prevent further environmental damage to the fragile region.

U.S. calls for more protection for poles

Opening the 32nd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 6-17, Clinton said the recent collapse of an Antarctic ice bridge shows that the poles are gravely threatened by climate change and human activity.

"With the collapse of an ice bridge that holds in place the Wilkins Ice Shelf, we are reminded that global warming has already had enormous effects on our planet, and we have no time to lose in tackling this crisis," Clinton said.

One ice shelf in Antarctica has completely disappeared and another two have lost massive sections, as glaciers there are melting more rapidly than previously known due to global warming, according to two separate studies on Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said in a report prepared in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey that the Wordie Ice Shelf, which has been retreating in the past 40 years, is completely gone. Moreover, the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf no longer exists, the USGS said, adding that more than 8,500sq km have broken off from the Larsen Ice Shelf since 1986.

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