HELSINKI, Finland -- We are just one year away from a flood of Noah's-ark proportions -- a flood that will destroy every man, woman and child on the entire planet!

That's the horrifying word from noted physicist Dr. Hannu Ritvos who -- along with 27 other scientists in 16 countries -- is urging officials of every nation to take preventative action. But his pleas are falling on deaf ears.

Dr. Ritvos and the other scientists, who specialize in the study of global warming, say that recently developed technology reveals that the ice masses at both the North and South Poles are melting at a rate far faster than anyone previously believed.

If melting continues at this pace -- and there's no reason to believe it will not -- all of Australia and major portions of South America and Africa will be completely submerged in run- off from Antarctic ice by September 2000.  Arctic waters will have covered Greenland, much of Canada and most of Russia by that time. After that, the polar waters will converge quickly until, by late November or early December, there will be no dry land on Earth.

Dr. Ritvos says people have heard about global warning so much they don't really listen anymore. But this newly discovered evidence gives the phrase a deeper urgency. The future of our planet depends on our taking notice -- now.  "We need to make this our No. 1 priority," Dr. Ritvos said.

"World leaders have been briefed, but they either don't take the problem seriously or they're afraid worldwide panic would  ensue if the public were to learn about it. "But whatever the reason, they're keeping people in the dark about it.

"We've always known that the ozone layer -- the ‘ceiling' that protects and cushions us from the sun's relentless heat -- has  been weakened by our reckless polluting of the air. There are holes in that protective layer that are letting too many of the sun's rays through.

"We've also always known that these sun rays are causing the planet to heat up and making the polar ice caps melt. "What we didn't know until recently is just how rapidly this melting is taking place."