Polarstern team warns Arctic may be past tipping point
A research team that set sail for the Arctic has warned that the tipping point for irreversible global warming may have already been triggered.
The scientist who led the international MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole on Tuesday warned that the point could have already been reached at which irreversible global warming is triggered.
During its expedition, the German research vessel "Polarstern" drifted through the Arctic on an ice floe for a year to also be able to research the winter at the North Pole, and the effects of climate change.
"The disappearance of summer sea ice in the Arctic is one of the first landmines in this minefield, one of the tipping points that we set off first when we push warming too far," said team leader Markus Rex, adding: "One can essentially ask if we haven't already stepped on this mine and already set off the beginning of the explosion."
Rex led what was the world's biggest mission so far to the North Pole, an expedition that involved some 300 scientists from 20 countries. Its Polarstern vessel returned to Germany in October bringing evidence of an Arctic Ocean that could see ice-free summers within decades.
