The tipping point for irreversible global warming may have already been triggered, the scientist who led the biggest-ever expedition to the Arctic warned on Tuesday.
“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 Markus Rex.
“And one can essentially ask if we haven’t already stepped on this mine and already set off the beginning of the explosion”.
The expedition returned to Germany in October after 389 days drifting through the Arctic, bringing home devastating proof of a dying Arctic Ocean and warning of ice-free summers in just decades.
The 140-million-euro expedition also bought back 150 terabytes of data and more than 1,000 ice samples.
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