It was settled bytheFranksaftertheretreatof the Romans, who had conqueredCelticGaul in 58-51b. c. Charlemagnemade it the centerofhisEmpire of the West after a. d. 800.
He said recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has estimated the possible global temperature rise by 2100 as 5.8 degrees C, had confirmed a "spectacular" retreat and collapse of ice shelves on the Antarctic peninsula.