New Zealand Sea Level Rising More Quickly than Forecast

FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
TT
20

New Zealand Sea Level Rising More Quickly than Forecast

FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE - This March 30, 2004, file photo, shows Tarawa atoll, Kiribati. Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to be allowed to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten the very existence of their tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, one of the lowest lying countries on Earth. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

The sea level is rising twice as fast as previously forecast around parts of New Zealand, according to research published Monday, putting the country's two largest cities at risk decades earlier than expected.

Government-backed data amassed from around the country's coastline found some areas are already sinking three to four millimeters per year, speeding up a long-expected threat, AFP said.

The projections, labelled "a bit terrifying" by one expert, are the result of an extensive five-year, government-funded research program -- NZ SeaRise -- that was the combined work of dozens of local and international scientists.

Their prognosis means authorities have much less time than expected to introduce climate adaptation plans, including relocating coastal communities.

NZ SeaRise co-leader Tim Naish, a professor at Wellington's Victoria University, said while the global sea level is expected to rise about half a meter by 2100, for substantial parts of New Zealand it could be closer to a meter because the land is sinking at the same time.

It is stark news for the capital city, Wellington, which could expect 30 centimeter sea level rise by 2040 -- a level that had not been expected before 2060.

With that rate of rise, Wellington residents can expect once-a-century flood damage every year on average.

"We have less time to act," Naish said. "You are going to see the impacts of quite damaging sea level rise much sooner than we thought. Roads and properties will be inundated.

"Yes, it is a bit terrifying but there is still time and I think that is the way to look at it."

Data shows the southeast coastline of the more-populated North Island is the most exposed, but numerous seaside communities and towns will be hit.

Auckland, which with 1.7 million residents is comfortably the country's largest city, is especially vulnerable.

It is predicted that the sea level will rise 50 percent faster in the city's downtown waterfront and in several central-city suburbs, with wide-ranging implications for house prices and insurance rates.

NZ SeaRise has developed an online tool to let residents and authorities check forecasts for their own stretch of coast -- allowing them to assess the risk of flooding and erosion.

"We still have time, but we don't have time to sit on our hands anymore," Naish said.

"If you're a council representative or you're a developer, or you're a decisions maker in the coastal areas of New Zealand you need to start thinking right now what the plan is for adapting to that sea-level rise."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said adaptation planning was already underway, including budgeting for the relocation of some communities and infrastructure away from vulnerable coastlines.

"The first port of call isn't necessarily managed retreat because there are a range of options that can be used," she told Radio New Zealand.

"We're working alongside local government and insurers to work through who bears the costs of some of these options. The cost that needs to be borne, won't fall on one party."

Ardern said New Zealanders shouldn't accept that sea level rises are inevitable beyond those predicted for the near term and that every citizen should do all they can to reduce emissions and diminish the impacts of climate change.

Global sea level rise is caused by thermal expansion of the ocean, by melting land-based glaciers, and by the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.



Largest Piece of Mars on Earth Fetches $5.3 Million at Auction, but Young Dinosaur Steals the Show

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, at Sotheby's, in New York, July 9, 2025. (AP)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, at Sotheby's, in New York, July 9, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Largest Piece of Mars on Earth Fetches $5.3 Million at Auction, but Young Dinosaur Steals the Show

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, at Sotheby's, in New York, July 9, 2025. (AP)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, at Sotheby's, in New York, July 9, 2025. (AP)

The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday. But a rare young dinosaur skeleton stole the show when it fetched more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy.

The 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million.

The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official sale price was about $5.3 million. The live bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increases.

The dinosaur skeleton, on the other hand, sparked a bidding war. With a pre-auction estimate of $4 million to $6 million, it is one of only four known Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeletons and the only juvenile skeleton of the species, which resembles the Tyrannosaurus rex but is smaller.

Bidding for the skeleton started with a high advance offer of $6 million, then escalated during the live round with bids $500,000 higher than the last and later $1 million higher than the last before ending at $26 million. People applauded after the auctioneer gaveled the bidding closed.

The official sale price was $30.5 million with fees and costs. That buyer also was not immediately disclosed.

Parts of the skeleton were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it’s ready to exhibit, Sotheby’s says. It was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company.

It’s more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long, and is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, while the T. rex could be 40 feet (12 meters) long.

The bidding for the Mars meteorite began with two advance offers of $1.9 million and $2 million. The live bidding slowly proceeded with increases of $200,000 and $300,000 until $4 million, then continued with $100,000 increases until reaching $4.3 million.

The red, brown and gray meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby’s says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters).

It was also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, the auction house says.

“This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot,” Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said in an interview before the auction. “So it’s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars.”

It’s not clear exactly when the meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars, but testing showed it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's says.

Hatton said a specialized lab examined a small piece of the red planet remnant and confirmed it was from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said.

The examination found that it is an “olivine-microgabbroic shergottite,” a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby’s says.

It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth’s atmosphere, Hatton said. “So that was their first clue that this wasn’t just some big rock on the ground,” she said.

The meteorite previously was on exhibit at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby’s did not disclose the owner.

Wednesday’s auction was part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025 and featured 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.