Comment: Thanks to the Climate Crisis, We’re Now in the Roaring Twenties
The prolonged periods of record-breaking temperatures warm the oceans — which absorb over 90 percent of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases. We now have marine heatwaves and warm ‘blobs’ that play havoc with marine biodiversity, intensify coral bleaching, and strongly influence regional weather.
As temperatures climb in the arctic, the Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than anticipated. “The rate and magnitude of Greenland ice sheet loss, and of ice loss globally has been dramatic,” said Twila Moon, a climate researcher with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.
More alarming still is the possibility of the collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet. Once thought to be strongly resistant to any changes in the global climate, scientists now know this is not the case. “The worst-case tipping point scenarios shouldn’t be off the table,” insists Jason Box, a climate scientist with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. A U.S. researcher was more emphatic: “We’re living the worst-case scenario,” said Oregon State University scientist Philip Mote.