Chuck Darwin<p>June extremes suggest parts of climate system are reaching tipping points </p><p>Recent research shows that the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Southern" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Southern</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ocean" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Ocean</span></a> encircling Antarctica and extending northward to 60° south latitude, took up 45 to 62 percent of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/heat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>heat</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/absorbed" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>absorbed</span></a> by the world’s <a href="https://c.im/tags/oceans" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>oceans</span></a>, even though it makes up only 6.25 percent of the global ocean surface area.</p><p>In the <a href="https://c.im/tags/absence" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>absence</span></a> of its <a href="https://c.im/tags/reflective" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>reflective</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/sea" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>sea</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ice" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ice</span></a> cover, the darker-colored ocean can absorb even more heat, potentially leading to earlier and <a href="https://c.im/tags/more" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>more</span></a> extensive <a href="https://c.im/tags/melting" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>melting</span></a> during the next Austral summer. </p><p>And as the fringe of ice around Antarctica gets smaller, <a href="https://c.im/tags/warmer" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>warmer</span></a> ocean <a href="https://c.im/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>water</span></a> can more easily flow toward the floating ice shelves that buttress vast areas of inland ice that could start flowing into the sea faster to <a href="https://c.im/tags/speed" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>speed</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/sea" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>sea</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/level" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>level</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/rise" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>rise</span></a>.</p><p><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04072023/june-extremes-climate-tipping-points/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">insideclimatenews.org/news/040</span><span class="invisible">72023/june-extremes-climate-tipping-points/</span></a></p>