There is now substantial evidence that three unstoppable
reinforcing feedback systems that can only accelerate global warming have been
triggered in the Arctic. R2 illustrates a process whereby frozen methane
hydrate, which exists in enormous quantities
on the seabed of the shallow Arctic Ocean shelf, is breaking up as the ocean
warms. This leads to methane gas, a greenhouse gas about 20 times more powerful
than C02, bubbling up to the surface. R1 shows that as the ice cover of the ocean
melts and shrinks, less sunlight is reflected back into space and more is absorbed by the ocean, warming it as a consequence. The
warmer ocean water and warmer air temperature will then melt more ice, but it
will also break up more methane hydrates. R3
describes a similar process where melting permafrost releases methane into the
atmosphere, making the situation even worse. These processes are multiplicative,
they reinforce each other. Below are
links to three articles that provide evidence that this is going on now. Systems
thinking tells us about reinforcing feedback loops and the associated exponential
growth. Taking this and the evidence provided by the articles into account the
conclusion clearly points to increasing and accelerated global warming. The recent
Paris agreement on global warming may have come too late!
