Large areas of the Norfolk Broads are likely to disappear by 2100, according to scientists.

The stark warning will be issued at an international climate change conference this week when experts will outline their latest findings on rising sea levels and global warming.

Over the three-day event in Copenhagen, which starts tomorrow , scientists will reveal how they have now realised that sea levels pose a far bigger eco threat than previously though and will sound an alarm over new floodings – enough to swamp the Norfolk Broads.

A report two years ago concluded that sea-level rises of between 20 and 60 centimetres would occur by 2100.

But now, as Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting faster than previously estimated, this figure is now suggested to be up to two metres.

Experts from the University of East Anglia said the rising sea levels will have a “huge impact”.

Dr Bruce Tofield, from the UEA’s school of environmental sciences, said: “People are beginning to worry that it’s going to be higher than previously thought.

“I’m sure it’s true it will have a huge impact on the Norfolk Broads. It won’t make Norfolk uninhabitable but it will have a big impact.

“Few people think it will be two metres but that’s the uncertainty. It’s going to be equally damaging to low-lying area in Shanghai and Calcutta and will have an impact on hundreds and millions of people, not just Norfolk. And if people are being displaced, migrating away from these places, then it will have a huge impact worldwide.”

Back in 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented its most up-to-date report on the likely impact of global warming, predicting sea-level rises of between 20 and 60 centimetres over the next 100 years.

But now, after studying satellite images and seeing land sheets breaking up faster than anticipated, scientists are suggesting sea-level rises could easily top a metre by 2100.

The result will be the appearance of the “super-surge”, a climatic double whammy that will savage low-lying regions that include Britain’s south-eastern coastline, in particular East Anglia and the Thames Estuary, along with cities such as London, Portsmouth and Hull, which are rated as being particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise.

The future of the Broads has been the subject of much debate in recent years, with a controversial report published by government body Natural England suggesting some sea defences should be abandoned.

Story by Kate Scotter in the Norwich Evening News