Nine objects of the dire

[phantom power]

The researchers have listed and ranked nine ecological systems that they say could be lost this century as a result of global warming. The nine tipping elements and the time it will take them to undergo a major transition are:

* Melting of Arctic sea-ice (about 10 years)
* Decay of the Greenland ice sheet (about 300 years)
* Collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet (about 300 years)
* Collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (about 100 years)
* Increase in the El Nino Southern Oscillation (about 100 years)
* Collapse of the Indian summer monsoon (about 1 year)
* Greening of the Sahara/Sahel and disruption of the West African monsoon (about 10 years)
* Dieback of the Amazon rainforest (about 50 years)
* Dieback of the Boreal Forest (about 50 years)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7227080.stm