1. Ice melt 'appears unstoppable'

2. The complete melting of a major section of west Antarctica's ice sheet appears inevitable, and the process could lead to higher end- of-century global sea levels than previously anticipated. Warm ocean currents and geographic peculiarities helped kick off a chain reaction at the Amundsen Sea-area glaciers, melting them faster than previously realized and pushing them "past the point of no return.“ The glacial retreat there "appears unstoppable," according to a joint NASA-University of California Irvine paper that used 40 years of satellite data and aircraft studies. NASA says the region has enough ice to raise global sea levels by 4 feet. Estimated conservatively, it still could take several centuries for that portion to melt into the ocean. But the melting could have an impact this century. The United Nations' most recent climate change report estimates sea levels could rise from about 1 foot to 3 feet by 2100, levels that could displace tens of millions of people from coastal areas around the world. Yet that estimate largely didn't take into account melting from west Antarctica, because few studies for that area had been completed. Meaning the number will be on the high end. Global warming and a depletion of the Earth's ozone layer is partly to blame, causing more warm water to be pushed toward the glaciers.

3. In Other News Underwater explorer Barry Clifford, who led a team that found and investigated a wreck, says he is confident he has discovered the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus' flagship from his first voyage to the Americas. Clifford said that he found the ship in the exact area where Columbus says the Santa Maria ran aground more than 500 years ago. The wreck is stuck on a reef off Haiti's northern coast, 10 to 15 feet beneath the water's surface. The Santa Maria was the flagship of Columbus' small fleet that set sail from Spain in August 1492 under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. The Santa Maria accidentally ran aground off Haiti’s coast. Columbus set off back to Spain with the two remaining ships, the Nina and the Pinta. Archaeologists will have to excavate and examine the ship found off Haiti in order to determine whether it is in fact the Santa Maria. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for taking bribes while mayor of Jerusalem. Olmert was also fined 1 million shekels (about $289,000). Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. He served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. Rutgers quarterback Philip Nelson has been arrested and charged on suspicion of assault in southern Minnesota. He is suspected of attacking Isaac Kolstad, 24, a former linebacker at Minnesota State University. Kolstad is in critical condition. NASA says it's working on plans to send astronauts into space to land on an asteroid. The NASA mission isn't planned to take place until the 2020s. Astronauts are simulating an asteroid landing in a 40-foot-deep swimming pool at a Space Center in Houston. Being underwater creates the lack of gravity that allows astronauts to practice walking in space. Material from the asteroid's core could contain information about the age and formation of the solar system.

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