Scientists say they have for the first time linked human activity to warming in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
In a new study released today, the team of researchers say they used four models to simulate the rising temperatures in the remote polar regions.
Nathan Gillett, an author of the report appearing online in Nature Geoscience, says their models showed they could explain warming only with the inclusion of greenhouse gases.
He says the models show conclusively that the gases produced by humans, like in the burning of fossil fuels, have caused temperature rises in both areas.
Gillett, who works for Environment Canada in Victoria, says other studies have strongly suggested the possibility, but this one proves the theory using the modelling technique for the first time.
The finding is raising concerns that sea level rise could be greatly underestimated and that as temperatures increase, polar ice caps will melt more rapidly in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
