Arctic Ice Melt Could Trigger Uncontrollable Climate Change

A new report warns that current levels of Arctic ice melting could trigger key “tipping points” leading to catastrophic and uncontrollable climate change. If these tipping points are reached, the effects would become their own drivers of global warming, regardless of human attempts to reduce carbon emissions.

A number of the tipping points relate to shrinking areas of ice, both on sea and on land. As you might expect, sea ice and land ice are both highly reflective, acting like mirrors reflecting much of the sun’s energy back into space. When ice cover is reduced, that energy is instead absorbed as heat, leading to a rise in temperatures. This, in turn, triggers further melting and additional temperature rises.

Scientists have expressed shock at the huge increases in temperature currently being recorded in the Arctic. Temperatures for November would normally be around -13 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead, this month they have been about 32 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, sea ice coverage is down 30 percent from levels 25 years ago, and is at the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year.

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