Current Arctic meltdown may trigger many other changes

A warmer Arctic will change the entire planet, and some of the potential consequences are nothing short of catastrophic. Fred Pearce reports. He writes: "The loss of Arctic sea ice could lead to the release of ever more methane from permafrost and methane hydrates. That in turn would make a dramatic reduction in the strength of the ocean conveyor sometime this century increasingly likely, which could lead to abrupt changes in the Asian monsoon. With the summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean already shrinking much faster than the IPCC models predicted, one thing is for sure. It is not just the polar bears who should be worrying about the warming Arctic."  New Scientist