Independent Online Edition > Climate Change

Independent Online Edition > Climate Change: "A catastrophic collapse of the Arctic sea ice could lead to radical climate changes in the northern hemisphere according to scientists who warn that the rapid melting is at a 'tipping point' beyond which it may not recover.

The scientists attribute the loss of some 38,000 square miles of sea ice - an area the size of Alaska - to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as to natural variability in Arctic ice.

"I think there is some evidence that we may have reached that tipping point, and the impacts will not be confined to the Arctic region," he said.