interviewed Paul Mayewski, professor and director of the University of 海角社区鈥檚 Climate Change Institute, about ice core research and abrupt climate change. Using Arctic ice cores, Mayewski and other researchers recorded shockingly rapid temperature changes that occurred 11,500 years ago. They were also able to observe that from 2007-2012, sea surface and air temperatures rose 6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. 鈥淲e were able to monitor [instances of] abrupt climate change in the past, but now we actually have an example,鈥 Mayewski said. The relatively sudden shift in the Arctic climate could signal an impending tipping point where, in Mayewski鈥檚 words, 鈥測ou push a system to a dramatic and potentially irreversible change.鈥 Climate tipping points have at times ended civilizations, Mayewski said, but that鈥檚 not a given.聽
Categories:
