Rapid loss of Antarctic ice may be climate tipping point, study says

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : A smaller ice sheet reflects less solar radiation, meaning the planet absorbs more warmth and will probably accelerate a weakening of the Antarctic Overturning Circulation, an ocean-spanning current that distributes heat and nutrients and regulates weather.
50% : "Antarctic sea ice may actually be one of those tipping points in the Earth's system," said Abram, a former professor at the Australian National University and now chief scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division.
45% : The study gathered data from observations, ice cores and ship logbooks to chart long-term changes in the area of sea ice, putting into context a rapid decline in recent years.
44% : Rapid loss of Antarctic sea ice could be a tipping point for the global climate, causing sea level rises, changes to ocean currents and loss of marine life that are impossible to reverse, a scientific study published on Thursday said.
42% : "Once we start losing Antarctic sea ice, we set in train this self-perpetuating process," Abram said.
38% : "A regime shift has reduced Antarctic sea-ice extent far below its natural variability of past centuries, and in some respects is more abrupt, non-linear and potentially irreversible than Arctic sea-ice loss," it said, referring to melting at the North Pole.
35% : Reining in global carbon dioxide emissions would reduce the risk of major changes in the Antarctic but still may not prevent them, the study said.
34% : "Even if we stabilise the climate, we are committed to still losing Antarctic sea ice over many centuries to come."
31% : Loss of ice is increasingly harming wildlife, including emperor penguins, who breed on the ice, and krill, which feed below it.

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