June extremes suggest parts of climate system are reaching tipping points
Recent research shows that the #Southern #Ocean encircling Antarctica and extending northward to 60° south latitude, took up 45 to 62 percent of the #heat #absorbed by the world’s #oceans, even though it makes up only 6.25 percent of the global ocean surface area.
In the #absence of its #reflective #sea #ice cover, the darker-colored ocean can absorb even more heat, potentially leading to earlier and #more extensive #melting during the next Austral summer.
And as the fringe of ice around Antarctica gets smaller, #warmer ocean #water 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 #speed #sea #level #rise.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04072023/june-extremes-climate-tipping-points/