Climate change has a disconcerting tendency to amplify itself through feedback effects. Melting sea ice exposes dark water, allowing the ocean to soak up more heat. Arctic warming speeds the release of carbon dioxide from permafrost. And, as researchers discussed at a meeting last week in Seefeld, Austria, climate extremes - heatwaves, droughts and storms - can hamper plant growth, weakening a major buffer against the rise of CO_2 in the atmosphere.
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