A lot of people got pretty upset by the recent IPCC report that we could be seeing an ice free arctic by 2100 (or there abouts), well…

In case you are having a hard time reading that basically it shows that this years ice melt was as bad as the IPCC’s prediction for about 2045. That big black thing hanging down is the plummeting amounts of arctic sea ice, like a giant guillotine coming down on the heads of climate change deniers. This is bad mostly because of the many feedback loops that tend to effect arctic ice formation.

The Arctic sea ice is disintegrating “100 years ahead of schedule”, having dropped 22% this year below the previous minimum low, and it may completely disappear as early as the northern summer of 2013. This is far beyond the predictions of the International Panel on Climate Change and is an example of global warming impacts happening at lower temperature increases and more quickly than projected.(via)

Read the full report here (pdf)

More melted ice exposes more dark sea water which absorbs more heat from the sun, which melts more ice…you get the idea. Today it was almost 90 degrees today in Boston, its October 22nd, if you are older than say 40 think back to your childhood, do you recall it being this hot this late in the year?

The title of this post aside, this does not in fact mean we are screwed as a species. It is instead a giant blinking flashing, horns blazing, bright nuclear orange sign telling us that we need to act and act soon. I suggest you figure a way to make your life greener and you do it quick. (here are some tips 1 2 3 4 5)