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The following editorial appeared Wednesday in the Boston Boston Globe:

Many scientists worry that there will be tipping points in global warming, as changes in the delicate balance of the earth's ice, land, water and air cause sudden accelerations in average temperatures. One focus of concern is the Arctic, where ice annually expands and recedes with the seasons.

This summer, ice there is at its second-lowest level since measurements began in 1979. By this month, the problem could be even worse than the record contraction last year, when scientists thought that out-of-the-ordinary wind currents and other weather conditions contributed to its retreat. This year's measurement shows that last year's was not a one-time fluke.

Ice reflects the sun's heat; dark open water absorbs it. A NASA ice scientist, Jay Zwally, estimates that the Arctic could have no summer ice at all within five to less than 10 years. These warning signals should alert world leaders that they have little time to spare in coming up with new limits on greenhouse gases to replace the soon-to-expire Kyoto agreement.

Predictive models, for good or ill, are what scientists have to rely on to gauge advances in global warming, as countries continue to release increasing amounts of the greenhouse gases that keep the sun's heat close to the earth's surface. Another NASA scientist, James Hansen, has a succinct phrase for what man-made emissions are creating: "a different planet."

Just as the data on Arctic summer ice came in, researchers also reported alarming releases of methane gas in the Arctic. As a greenhouse gas, methane is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Scientists have long feared that gigantic burps of this gas would be a result of warming in the Arctic.

The next international conference on a new climate-change agreement will be in Poland in December. The meetings so far have shown little sense of urgency. Delegates should heed the words of senior scientist Mark Serreze at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.: "We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point. We're seeing it happen now."