Antarctica is already feeling the heat of climate change

Antarctica is already feeling the heat of climate change, with rapid melting and retreat of glaciers over recent decades.

Ice mass loss from Antarctica and Greenland contributes about 20% to the current rate of global sea level rise. This ice loss is projected to increase over the coming century.

A recent article on The Conversation raised the concept of “climate tipping points”: thresholds in the climate system that, once breached, lead to substantial and irreversible change.

Such a climate tipping point may occur as a result of the increasingly rapid decline of the Antarctic ice sheets, leading to a rapid rise in sea levels. But what is this threshold? And when will we reach it?

Read the story on The Conversation - “Tipping point: how we predict when Antarctica’s melting ice sheets will flood the seas.”