David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey, installs a pole as part of a satellite monitoring system into the Wilkins Ice Shelf off the Antarctic Peninsula in this January 18, 2009 file photo. Climate change is turning Antarctica's ice into one of the biggest risks for coming centuries. Even a tiny melt could drive up sea levels, affecting cities from New York to Beijing, or nations from Bangladesh to the Cook Islands -- named after the mariner -- in the Pacific. Scientists are now trying to design ever more high tech experiments -- with satellite radars, lasers, robot submarines, or even deep drilling through perhaps 3 kilometers of ice -- to plug huge gaps in understanding the risks. To match feature CLIMATE/ANTARCTICA REUTERS/Alister Doyle/Files (ANTARCTICA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)
REUTERS/STAFF