Melting Ice Caps Slow Global Warming

Icebergs unleashed by warming poles, it turns out, are hotbeds for carbon-absorbing life\ New research has revealed an interesting twist on climate science that could offer a buffer to the runaway climate change in the atmosphere: Icebergs unleashed by warming poles support such teaming ocean life that they actually reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The world of climate science is filled with "feedback loops" -- and usually, they don't inspire optimism. Melting glaciers, for instance, reveal more dark earth, which absorbs more heat from the sun than white snow and ice, which increases the melting of glaciers. But this feedback loop offers a bit of hope. As glaciers break free from icy polar islands, they support an abundant underwater ecosystem of plankton, krill and seabirds that take breathe in carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere. Is it enough to slow global warming? Some scientists say it is -- to a degree, according to a story in the June 22 Los Angeles Times.