Climate studies show polar warming trend

Three climate studies published Thursday raise new concerns about the effects of warmer temperatures and pollution on polar environments.

A paper by three Colorado researchers says Arctic sea ice, declining in extent by the month since 1979, already may have reached a "tipping point" that could cascade quickly into multiple climate change effects in temperate regions. Those might include less cold, rain and snow here in the West and more precipitation in parts of Europe.

A study by two British scientists says Greenland and Antarctica are losing more ice as large glaciers accelerate their path to the ocean. The researchers suspect global warming is to blame for Greenland's melting. But they also say they can't explain yet if Antarctica's losses are the result of natural variations or human causes.

A report by researchers from France and Norway blames air pollution, largely from Europe and Asia, for creating a man-made "Arctic haze" of ozone, aerosols and soot in winter and spring. They say the pall is another factor, along with "greenhouse gases" from the burning of fossil fuels, in the warming up of the northern polar region.

The three studies, all in Friday's edition of Science magazine, come two weeks after two world science and weather groups launched the International Polar Year, a global research focus on the polar regions in more than 200 projects with thousands of scientists from 60 countries.

from USA Today