[greenyes] Climate Disruption - Northern Hemisphere- Tipping Point

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

THE INDEPENDENT (UK) - 9/16/05


Global warming 'past the point of no return'
By Steve Connor, Science Editor

A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists 
that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond 
which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now 
entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of 
the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands 
of years.

They believe global warming is melting Arctic ice so rapidly that the region 
is beginning to absorb more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still 
further and so reinforcing a vicious cycle of melting and heating.

The greatest fear is that the Arctic has reached a "tipping point" beyond 
which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the 
massive land glaciers of Greenland, which will raise sea levels 
dramatically.

Satellites monitoring the Arctic have found that the extent of the sea ice 
this August has reached its lowest monthly point on record, dipping an 
unprecedented 18.2 per cent below the long-term average.

Experts believe that such a loss of Arctic sea ice in summer has not 
occurred in hundreds and possibly thousands of years. It is the fourth year 
in a row that the sea ice in August has fallen below the monthly downward 
trend - a clear sign that melting has accelerated.
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FOR FULL ARTICLE 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article312997.ece
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