This link has been bookmarked by 6 people . It was first bookmarked on 28 Aug 2008, by Alan McCluskey.
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19 Sep 11
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"We could very well be in that quick slide downwards in terms of passing a tipping point," said Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the Colorado-based NSIDC.
"It's tipping now. We're seeing it happen now," he told the Associated Press news agency.
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rrespective of whether the 2007 record falls in the next few weeks, the long-term trend is obvious, scientists said; the ice is declining more sharply than even a decade ago, and the Arctic region will progressively turn to open water in summers.
A few years ago, scientists were predicting ice-free Arctic summers by about 2080.
Then computer models started projecting earlier dates, around 2030 to 2050; and some researchers now believe it could happen within five years.
That will bring economic opportunities, including the chance to drill for oil and gas. Burning that oil and gas would increase levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere still further.
The absence of summer ice would have impacts locally and globally.
The iconography of polar bears unable to find ice is by now familiar; but other species, including seals, would also face drastic changes to their habitat, as would many Arctic peoples.
Globally, the Arctic melt will reinforce warming because open water absorbs more of the Sun's energy than ice does.
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28 Aug 08
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Researchers say the Arctic is now at a climatic "tipping point".
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