Arctic Tipping Point Passed

Sad as it is to acknowledge, we may have already gone beyond climate change tipping points in the Arctic. That's the conclusion of Queen's University biologist John Smol and Marianne Douglas of the University of Alberta.

Smol and Douglas have been documenting the disappearance of small ponds in the high Arctic and the drying out of the tundra. The ponds that have sustained life for thousands of years are now dry. As the ponds and tundra dry they're expected to release the greenhouse gases they stored, a vicious cycle.

A key 'tipping point' has now been passed. Arctic ponds that were permanent water bodies for millennia are now ephemeral," the report states. "The ecological implications of these changes are likely severe and will cascade throughout the Arctic ecosystem."

There's no drought to blame for this. The past two summers have actually been wetter than normal.