Mark Serreze, as senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Date Center in Boulder Colorado admits natural factors are contributing, but, quote, “the effects of greenhouse warming are now coming through loud and clear.” We’ll be hearing more from Mark Serreze later in the program, as we bring you the highlights of a panel of Arctic experts reporting to a Congressional Committee at the end of November.

[PAST THE TIPPING POINT]

James Hansen of NASA is another brave exception, defying government gag orders. Hansen told Reuters, quote, “”The reason so much (of the Arctic ice) went suddenly is that it is hitting a tipping point that we have been warning about for the past few years.”

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research agrees with him. The Arctic ice system has already tipped. Possible impacts, and we don’t know yet, include changes to the Indian monsoon, a slowdown of the Gulf Stream, and more melting of the Siberian permafrost.

Here is yet another European scientific institute saying the Arctic tipping point is behind us. Paal Prestrud of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo told Reuters, in an article September 28th, quote: “I’d say we are reaching a tipping point or are past it for the ice. This is a strong indication that there is an amplifying mechanism here.”

The Radio Ecoshock Show: December 2007