Arctic Sea Ice Heads For Record Low As Melt Beats Forecasts
By Alex Morales - Aug 17,
2012http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-17/arctic-sea-ice-heads-for-record-low-as-melt-exceeds-forecasts.html
The increasing melt may be a harbinger of greater changes such as the
release of methane compounds from frozen soils that could exacerbate
warming, and a thaw of the Greenland ice sheet, which would contribute to
rising sea levels, NASA’s top climate scientist, James Hansen, said in an
e-mail interview.
Tipping Points
“Our greatest concern is that loss of Arctic sea ice creates a grave threat
of passing two other tipping points -- the potential instability of the
Greenland ice sheet and methane hydrates,” Hansen said. “These latter two
tipping points would have consequences that are practically irreversible on
time scales of relevance to humanity.”
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