Our thanks to Lisa G. for forwarding the link to the following (Source)
We are at the tipping point because the climate state includes large, ready positive feedbacks provided by the Arctic sea ice, the West Antarctic ice sheet, and much of Greenland’s ice. — James Hansen
Tipping Point: PERSPECTIVE OF A CLIMATOLOGIST [PDF]
by JAMES HANSEN
An Excerpt from Hansen’s report:
Our home planet is dangerously near a tipping point at which human-made greenhouse gases reach a level where major climate changes can proceed mostly under their own momentum. Warming will shift climatic zones by intensifying the hydrologic cycle, affecting freshwater availability and human health.
[James Hansen is director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies and an Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.]
The ice in the Arctic is much younger than normal, with vast regions now covered by first-year ice and much less area covered by multiyear ice. Left: February distribution of ice by its age during normal Arctic conditions (1985-2000 average). Right: February 2008 Arctic ice age distribution. Credit: NSIDC [Caption: NASA]
Related Links:
- Arctic sea ice forecast:another record low in 2008
- Arctic Melting FAST!
- Greenland Ice Melt Faster Than IPCC Estimates
- Only Zero Emissions Would Avert Dangerous Warming
- Stern Report: “a great toxic dump of doublespeak in truly Orwellian fashion”
- Burning Earth
- Human Impact
- The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
- Giga Trends
- Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
.-.
Fire Earth 