The Elephant
The climate change and environmental emergency: a comprehensive resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens
The ElephantThe climate change and environmental emergency: a comprehensive resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens
Amazon rainforest at a critical threshold: Loss of forest worsens climate change
2024-02-14 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research team including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) reveals that up to 47% of the Amazonian forest is threatened and identifies climatic and land-use thresholds that should not be breached to keep the Amazon resilient.
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Collapse | Trees | Tipping Points
Climate tipping points are nearer than you think – our new report warns of catastrophic risk
2023-12-06 by in The ConversationCoral reefs are already being lost, and four other vital climate systems may tip soon.
Tagged under: Collapse | Coral Reefs | Tipping Points
Tipping Points Report shows humanity on ‘disastrous trajectory’ - The Engineer
2023-12-06 by The Engineer in The EngineerHumanity is on the verge of triggering at least five major tipping points which could see the collapse of ice sheets, ecosystems and food production, according to a new report.
Tagged under: Agriculture | Ice Melting | Tipping Points | Collapse
Earth on verge of five catastrophic climate tipping points, scientists warn
2023-12-06 in The GuardianHumanity faces ‘devastating domino effects’ including mass displacement and financial ruin as planet warms
Tagged under: Science | Climate Change Impacts | Climate Change | Tipping Points | El Niño | Antarctic
Tipping Carbon
2024-08-01 (or before) in Gernot WagnerGoing, Going, Gone?
Tagged under: Tipping Points
‘Every 0.1C’ of overshoot above 1.5C increases risk of crossing tipping points - Carbon Brief
2024-08-01 by in Carbon BriefNew study investigates the risk of crossing four interconnected tipping points under different “policy-relevant” future emissions scenarios.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Tipping risks from overshooting 1.5 °C can be minimised if warming is swiftly reversed
2024-08-01 (or before) in Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research08/01/2024 - Current climate policies imply a high risk for tipping of critical Earth system elements, even if temperatures return to below 1.5 °C of global warming after a period of overshoot. A new study published in Nature Communications indicates that this risk can be minimised if the warming is swiftly reversed. That is why reducing emissions in the current decade is crucial for the stability of the Earth systems functions, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and other institutes write. They analysed the tipping risks ...
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Antarctic
Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions critical to limit climate tipping risks - Nature Communications
2024-08-01 in NatureTemporarily overshooting the 1.5 °C limit risks triggering climate tipping elements. This study finds that every 0.1 °C of warming increases risk, with a strong acceleration above +2.0 °C. Achieving net-zero emissions by 2100 is crucial to minimise long-term risks.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Earth's Disastrous 10th Tipping Point Revealed: Aquatic Deoxygenation
2024-07-18 in Popular MechanicsNew potential climate crisis just dropped.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Climate Tipping Points: Are we headed for a hothouse Earth?
2024-07-17 (or before) in West England BylinesTom Hardy warns of the many tipping points due to global heating which could spell disaster for human life on earth
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Narrative Summary - Global Tipping Points
2024-07-17 (or before) by in Global Tipping Points | HomeNarrative Summary Harmful tipping points in the natural world pose some of the gravest threats faced by humanity. Their triggering will severely damage our planet’s life-support systems and threaten the stability of our societies. For example, the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s great overturning circulation combined with global warming could cause half of the global […]
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Collapse | Oceans
Is El Niño‐Southern Oscillation a Tipping Element in the Climate System?
2024-07-16 (or before) in Advancing Earth and Space Sciences JournalEl Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may be a tipping element in the climate system as its characteristics can be very different under colder or warmer mean climates In a warmer climate, ENSO can ...
Tagged under: El Niño | Tipping Points
Climate model suggests extreme El Niño tipping point could be reached if global warming continues
2024-07-15 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA trio of physicists and oceanologists, two with the University of Cologne's Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology and the third with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, all in Germany, has found via the CESM1 climate model that an extreme El Niño tipping point could be reached in the coming decades under current emissions.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Oceans
Loss of oxygen in bodies of water identified as new tipping point
2024-07-15 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyOxygen concentrations in our planet's waters are decreasing rapidly and dramatically—from ponds to the ocean. The progressive loss of oxygen threatens not only ecosystems, but also the livelihoods of large sectors of society and the entire planet, according to the authors of an international study involving GEOMAR published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Oceans
New tipping point discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet - British Antarctic Survey
2024-06-26 (or before) in British Antarctic SurveyScientists from British Antarctic Survey have discovered a new tipping point beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Antarctic
Newly identified tipping point for ice sheets could mean greater sea level rise
2024-06-25 in The GuardianSmall increase in temperature of intruding water could lead to very big increase in loss of ice, scientists say
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Antarctic
The end of the great northern forests? The tiny tree-killing beetle wreaking havoc on our ancient giants
2024-06-05 in The GuardianForests across Europe, the US and Canada have been hard hit by drought, fires and bark beetles. Now scientists fear the northern hemisphere’s greatest carbon sink is nearing a tipping point
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Insects | Collapse | Drought
Wind and solar are closing in on a fossil fuel tipping point
2024-05-08 in Business Green2024 could mark a historic moment in the world's energy history, with fossil fuel electricity likely to peak, writes Ember's Richard Black
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Unwanted anniversary: 365 days of record-breaking ocean temperatures, Reef fading to ‘shadow state’ | Climate Council
2024-03-13 (or before) in climatecouncil.org.auThe Great Barrier Reef is suffering a fifth mass bleaching event in nine years, following 365 straight days of record breaking global sea surface temperatures, and igniting fears climate change is pushing tropical coral reefs past a tipping point.
Tagged under: Extreme Heat | Climate Data | Great Barrier Reef | Oceans | Tipping Points
Methane: The Arctic's hidden climate threat : Natalia Shakhova's latest paper.
2024-03-12 (or before) in YouTubeA methane burst from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf could happen at any time and needs only a trigger. That's the conclusion of the world's leading research ...
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Methane | Arctic | Russia
The Amazon has survived changes in the climate for 65 million years. Now it’s heading for collapse, a study says | CNN
2024-02-14 by in CNNThe Amazon rainforest is on course to reach a crucial tipping point as soon as 2050, with devastating consequences the world’s ability to tackle climate change, a study shows.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Collapse | Tipping Points
Network dynamics of drought-induced tipping cascades in the Amazon rainforest | Research Square
2024-02-14 (or before) in Research SquareTipping elements are nonlinear subsystems of the Earth system that can potentially abruptly and irreversibly shift if environmental change occurs. Among these tipping elements is the Amazon rainforest, which is threatened by anthropogenic activities and increasingly frequent droughts. Here, we as...
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Drought | Tipping Points
Amazon rainforest at a critical threshold: Loss of forest worsens climate change
2024-02-14 in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research team including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) reveals that up to 47% of the Amazonian forest is threatened and identifies climatic and land-use thresholds that should not be breached to keep the Amazon resilient.
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Collapse | Trees | Tipping Points
Amazon rainforest could reach ‘tipping point’ by 2050, scientists warn
2024-02-14 in The Guardian‘We need to respond now,’ says author of study that says crucial forest has already passed safe boundary and needs restoration
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil | Trees | Tipping Points
🌊The Truth About Atlantic Ocean Circulation Collapse
2024-02-12 in Roger HallamAs I write, an article on the Atlantic Ocean Circulation nearing its tipping point is the top viewed on the Guardian website. This is what they miss out
Tagged under: Collapse | Gulf Stream (AMOC) | Tipping Points | Oceans
New study suggests the Atlantic overturning circulation AMOC “is on tipping course”
2024-02-09 in RealClimateA new paper was published in Science Advances today. Its title says what it is about: Physics-based early warning signal shows that AMOC is on tipping course. The study follows one by Danish colleagues which made headlines last July, likewise looking for early warning signals for approaching an AMOC tipping point (we discussed it here), but using rather different data and methods. The new study by van Westen et al. is a major ...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Antarctic Tipping Point That Occurred 8,000 Years Ago 'Could Happen Again'
2024-02-09 in Common Dreams"We now have direct evidence that this ice sheet suffered rapid ice loss in the past," said a Cambridge researcher.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Antarctic
Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds
2024-02-09 in The GuardianCollapse in system of currents that helps regulate global climate would be at such speed that adaptation would be impossible
Tagged under: Oceans | Collapse | Tipping Points | Gulf Stream (AMOC)
Atlantic Ocean is headed for a tipping point − once melting glaciers shut down the Gulf Stream, we would see extreme climate change within decades, study shows
2024-02-09 by in The ConversationScientists now have a better understanding of the risks ahead and a new early warning signal to watch for.
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points
Extreme Climate Impacts From Collapse of a Key Atlantic Ocean Current Could be Worse Than Expected, a New Study Warns - Inside Climate News
2024-02-09 by in Inside Climate NewsDisruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current could freeze Europe, scorch the tropics and increase sea level rise in the North Atlantic. The tipping point may be closer than predicted in the IPCC’s latest assessment.
Tagged under: Oceans | Sea Level | Collapse | Tipping Points
Devastating drought in Amazon result of climate crisis, study shows
2024-01-24 in The GuardianExtreme weather threatens world’s biggest carbon store as the rainforest is already close to tipping point
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Drought | Trees | Tipping Points
Climate Tipping Points: Insights for Effective Policy Action | en | OECD
2024-01-18 (or before) in OECDThis report reviews evidence that overshooting 1.5°C may push the earth over several tipping points, leading to irreversible and severe changes in the climate system. If triggered, tipping point impacts will rapidly cascade through socio-economic and...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Amazon drought: 'We've never seen anything like this'
2023-12-27 (or before) in BBCThis year's heat and drought in the Amazon intensify worries that it is approaching a tipping point.
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Drought | Tipping Points
Climate Tipping Points: Insights for Effective Policy Action | en | OECD | OCDE
2023-12-09 (or before) in OECDThis report reviews evidence that overshooting 1.5°C may push the earth over several tipping points, leading to irreversible and severe changes in the climate system. If triggered, tipping point impacts will rapidly cascade through socio-economic and...
Tagged under: Climate Change Impacts | Tipping Points
Opec rails against fossil fuel phase-out at Cop28 in leaked letters
2023-12-08 in The GuardianOil cartel warns ‘pressure may reach a tipping point’ and that ‘politically motivated campaigns put our prosperity’ at risk
Tagged under: COP28 | Tipping Points
The point of no return: how close is the world to irreversible climate change?
2023-12-07 in SGR: Responsible ScienceProf Bill McGuire, University College London, summarises the disturbing evidence on tipping points in the climate system. Article from Responsible Science journal, no.6; advance online publication: 7 December 2023
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Q&A: Climate tipping points have put Earth on ‘disastrous trajectory’, says new report - Carbon Brief
2023-12-06 by in Carbon BriefThe Earth is on a “disastrous trajectory” with “no adequate global governance” to deal with climate tipping points, warns a major new report.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Climate tipping points are nearer than you think – our new report warns of catastrophic risk
2023-12-06 by in The ConversationCoral reefs are already being lost, and four other vital climate systems may tip soon.
Tagged under: Collapse | Coral Reefs | Tipping Points
Tipping Points Report shows humanity on ‘disastrous trajectory’ - The Engineer
2023-12-06 by The Engineer in The EngineerHumanity is on the verge of triggering at least five major tipping points which could see the collapse of ice sheets, ecosystems and food production, according to a new report.
Tagged under: Agriculture | Ice Melting | Tipping Points | Collapse
Earth on verge of five catastrophic climate tipping points, scientists warn
2023-12-06 in The GuardianHumanity faces ‘devastating domino effects’ including mass displacement and financial ruin as planet warms
Tagged under: Science | Climate Change Impacts | Climate Change | Tipping Points | El Niño | Antarctic
Home - Global Tipping Points
2023-12-06 (or before) by in Global Tipping Points | HomeWelcome Global Tipping Points is led by Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute with the support of more than 200 researchers from over 90 organisations in 26 countries. The Global Tipping Points Report was launched at COP28 on 6 December 2023. The report is an authoritative assessment of the risks […]
Tagged under: COP28 | Tipping Points
The Climate Tipping Points - 3. Cascading - BBC Sounds
2023-12-04 (or before) in The BBCWill tipping points in the Amazon and in cloud formation accelerate climate change?
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Tipping Point — Podcast
2023-10-24 (or before) in Tipping PointThe true story of "The Limits to Growth": the backlash, its legacy.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Drying of Amazon could be early warning of ‘tipping point’ for the rainforest - Carbon Brief
2023-10-04 by in Carbon BriefRecent drying over the Amazon could be the “first warning signal” that the rainforest is...
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Tipping Points
Seafloor Methane Tipping Point Reached!
2023-10-04 (or before) by in Titanic Lifeboat Academy - Titanic Lifeboat AcademyA catastrophe of unimaginable proportions is unfolding.
Tagged under: Methane | Tipping Points | Extinction | Arctic
Flowers Are Thriving In Antarctica, Suggesting It Might Be Reaching A "Tipping Point"
2023-09-26 (or before) in IFL ScienceAntarctica's two native flowering plants are booming amongst summer heatwaves and rising temperatures.
Tagged under: Antarctic | Heatwaves | Tipping Points
Unlocking the Secrets of Climate Evolution: The Tipping Points That Changed Earth Forever
2023-09-03 in SciTechDaily - Science, Space and Technology News 2023Over the past 66 million years, two major climate events have shaped the climate system, dividing the period into two distinct climate eras. An analysis of the hierarchy of tipping points indicates that over the past 66 million years, two significant occurrences laid the foundation for subsequent c
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Arctic News: Two Tipping Points
2023-08-30 (or before) in Arctic NewsTagged under: Arctic | Tipping Points
The 7 climate tipping points that could change the world forever
2023-08-30 (or before) in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.As the world warms, these Earth systems are changing. Could further warming make them spiral out of control?
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Climate Change | Trees | Tipping Points
Mechanisms and Impacts of Earth System Tipping Elements
2023-08-28 (or before) in Advancing Earth and Space Sciences JournalMany tipping elements have uncertain thresholds, which could be crossed this century if human emissions and impacts remain unabated Many tipping elements significant to global climate may exhibit...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
"We are killing this ecosystem": the scientists tracking the Amazon's fading health
2023-08-25 (or before) in NatureClimate change, deforestation and other human threats are driving the rainforest towards a tipping point of sustainability. Researchers are racing to chart the Amazon’s future.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Climate Change | Health | Tipping Points | Sustainability
The AMOC: tipping this century, or not?
2023-08-25 in RealClimateA few weeks ago, a study by Copenhagen University researchers Peter and Susanne Ditlevsen concluded that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is likely to pass a tipping point already this century, most probably around mid-century. Given the catastrophic consequences of an AMOC breakdown, the study made quite a few headlines but also met some skepticism. Now that the dust has settled, here some thoughts on the criticisms that have been raised about this study. ...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Our forests have reached a tipping point
2023-08-21 by in Canada's National ObserverUnrelenting logging and fossil fuel burning have flipped one of the planet's largest forests from a critical CO2 sink into a surging CO2 source. This year's climate-fuelled wildfires are the latest acceleration in a multi-decade trend, writes Barry Saxifrage.
Tagged under: Wildfires | Trees | Tipping Points
UK offshore wind at ‘tipping point’ as funding crisis threatens industry
2023-08-05 in The GuardianIndustry figures warn climate crisis goals cannot be met unless government pumps more money into renewables
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Wind Power | Tipping Points
13-Graphics-Factsheet-Climate_Change-tipping_points.png 900×836 pixels
2023-07-28 (or before) in Leopoldina | HomeTagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Warning of a forthcoming collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation - Nature Communications
2023-07-25 (or before) in NatureThe Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a major tipping element in the climate system. Here, data-driven estimators for the time of tipping predict a potential AMOC collapse mid-century under the current emission scenario.
Tagged under: Predictions | Collapse | Tipping Points
What is happening in the Atlantic Ocean to the AMOC?
2023-07-24 in RealClimateFor various reasons I'm motivated to provide an update on my current thinking regarding the slowdown and tipping point of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). I attended a two-day AMOC session at the IUGG Conference the week before last, there's been interesting new papers, and in the light of that I have been changing my views somewhat. Here's ten points, starting from the very basics, so you can easily jump to the aspects that ...
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points
MetLink - Royal Meteorological Society Tipping Points: Critical Thresholds for Climate Change -
2023-07-09 (or before) in MetLink - Royal Meteorological Society HomeTo what extent can all climate change be seen as a tipping point?
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Operationalising positive tipping points towards global sustainability | Global Sustainability | Cambridge Core
2023-07-09 (or before) in Cambridge University Press & AssessmentOperationalising positive tipping points towards global sustainability - Volume 5
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Sustainability
Climate Feedback Loops and Tipping Points | Center for Science Education
2023-07-09 (or before) by in Center for Science EducationFeedback loops play an important role in interactions among parts of the climate system. Positive feedback loops can sometimes result in irreversible change as climate conditions cross a tipping point.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points | Feedback Loops
June Extremes Suggest Parts of the Climate System Are Reaching Tipping Points - Inside Climate News
2023-07-04 by in Inside Climate NewsJune 2023 may be remembered as the start of a big change in the climate system, with many key global indicators flashing red warning lights amid signs that some systems are tipping toward a new state from which they may not recover. Earth’s critical reflective polar ice caps are at their lowest extent on record […]
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
An earth system model shows self-sustained thawing of permafrost even if all man-made GHG emissions stop in 2020 - Scientific Reports
2023-07-03 (or before) in NatureThe risk of points-of-no-return, which, once surpassed lock the world into new dynamics, have been discussed for decades. Recently, there have been warnings that some of these tipping points are coming closer and are too dangerous to be disregarded. In this paper we report that in the ESCIMO climate model the world is already past a point-of-no-return for global warming. In ESCIMO we observe self-sustained thawing of the permafrost for hundreds of years, even if global society stops all emissions of man-made GHGs immediately. We encourage other model builders to explore our discovery in their (bigger) models, and report on their...
Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Arctic | Albedo | Ice Melting | Tipping Points
Ecological doom-loops: Why ecosystem collapses may occur much sooner than expected
2023-06-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyAround the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded "regime shifts" like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystem where tipping points have been passed. Around the world, more than 20% of ecosystems are in danger of shifting or collapsing into something different.
Tagged under: Collapse | Tipping Points
Why Ecosystem Collapse May Happen Much Sooner Than Expected. A new research – Against
2023-06-23 in euro.dayfr.comBy John Dearing, Gregory Cooper, Simon Willcock All over the world, tropical rainforests are turning into savanna or farmland; the savanna dries up and turns into desert; and the freezing tundra thaws. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded such “regime shifts” in more than 20 different types of ecosystems, where tipping points have been crossed.… Continue reading Why Ecosystem Collapse...
Tagged under: Farming | Russia | Collapse | Tipping Points
Ecological tipping points could occur much sooner than expected, study finds
2023-06-22 in The GuardianAmazon rainforest and other ecosystems could collapse ‘very soon’, researchers warn
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Oceans | Rivers | Wildlife | Collapse | Trees | Tipping Points
Antarctic tipping points: the irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2℃
2023-06-13 by in The ConversationWe are on a trajectory that takes Earth across thresholds humans have never experienced, into a climate where Antarctica’s ice shelves can no longer exist, leading to several metres of sea-level rise.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Antarctic | Sea Level | Tipping Points
500+ pages, 200+ researchers: Global Tipping Points Report delivers comprehensive assessment of tipping point risks and societal opportunities
2023-06-12 in Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research12/06/2023 - Tipping points pose some of the biggest risks to our planet’s life-support systems and the stability of our societies. In an unprecedented effort by the scientific community, researchers have now published a comprehensive report on Earth system tipping points and their potential impacts and opportunities for societal change. More than 200 scientists from around the world contributed to the ‘Global Tipping Points Report’. The report with more than 500 pages provides an authoritative guide to the state of knowledge on tipping points, explores opportunities for accelerating much needed transformations...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Countries must put aside national interests for climate crisis, UN says
2023-06-05 in The GuardianSimon Stiell tells conference in Bonn the world is at ‘tipping point’ and must fight together for common good
Tagged under: COP28 | Tipping Points
Tim Lenton, Tipping points, NAS, 2022
2023-05-12 (or before) in YouTubeTim Lenton, 2022, Tipping elements, lecture, National Academy Sciences
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Climate Tipping Points: Insights for Effective Policy Action
2023-05-09 (or before) in YouTubeVideo with OECD's Marcia Rocha on the new report 'Climate Tipping Points: Insights for Effective Policy Action'. This report reviews evidence that overshooti...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Humanity's tipping point? How the Queen's death stole a climate warning's thunder
2023-05-07 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThink back to September last year. What happened early that month? What news shook the world and reverberated for weeks, if not months?
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Figure 2. Trends in Atmospheric CO 2 vs Global Temperature Change
2023-04-20 (or before) in ResearchGateDownload scientific diagram | Trends in Atmospheric CO 2 vs Global Temperature Change from publication: Only Radical is Realistic Now International Carbon Rationing in a Climate Emergency | Climate disruption and biodiversity collapse are but two symptoms of the environmental crisis caused by ever-growing resource consumption. Multiple overshoots of Earth's planetary boundaries have pushed our natural systems close to or even beyond critical tipping points.... | Emergency, Climate and Carbon | ResearchGate, the professional network for scientists.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Collapse | Tipping Points
Faster than forecast, climate impacts trigger tipping points in the Earth system
2023-04-19 by in Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsRecent research has shown that tipping points and cascades are already occurring, not at 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius of warming, but right now.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
How close are we to the temperature tipping point of the terrestrial biosphere? | Science Advances
2023-04-19 (or before) in Science | AAASFuture anticipated warming could reduce the terrestrial carbon sink by ~50% by mid-century.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Five Times Faster by Simon Sharpe review – a radical but realistic path to net zero emissions
2023-04-09 in The GuardianA former civil servant makes a persuasive case for dropping economy-wide emissions targets and focusing on tipping points where green technologies become affordable
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economics | Net Zero | Tipping Points | Finance
Revealed: 1,000 super-emitting methane leaks risk triggering climate tipping points
2023-03-06 in The GuardianVast releases of gas, along with future ‘methane bombs’, represent huge threat – but curbing emissions would rapidly reduce global heating
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Methane | Fracking | Fossil Fuels | Tipping Points
Scientists prove clear link between deforestation and local drop in rainfall
2023-03-01 in The GuardianStudy adds to fears Amazon is approaching tipping point after which it will not be able to generate its own rainfall
Tagged under: Deforestation | Extreme Rainfall | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil | Africa | Trees | Indonesia | Tipping Points
Teleconnections among tipping elements in the Earth system - Nature Climate Change
2023-01-26 (or before) in NatureTeleconnections between tipping elements in the Earth system are unclear. Here the authors use a climate network approach to link the Amazon Rainforest Area and the Tibetan Plateau, and show that current snow cover loss on the Tibetan Plateau is an early warning signal for an approaching tipping point.
Tagged under: Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Climate Change | Tipping Points
Global warming overshoots increase risks of climate tipping cascades in a network model - Nature Climate Change
2023-01-26 (or before) in NatureTemporarily exceeding temperature targets could increase risk of crossing tipping-element thresholds. This study considers a range of overshoot scenarios in a stylized network model and shows that overshoots increase tipping risks by up to 72% compared with remaining within targets.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Overshooting climate targets could significantly increase risk for tipping cascades — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
2023-01-03 (or before) in Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research12/22/2022 - Temporarily overshooting the climate targets of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius could increase the tipping risk of several Earth system elements by more than 70 percent compared to keeping global warming in line with the United Nations Paris Agreement range, a new risk analysis study by an international team of researchers shows. This tipping risk increases even if in the longer term the global temperature would stabilize within the Paris range. Avoiding an overshoot would hence limit the risks, the researchers conclude.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | The Paris Agreement
Social tipping processes towards climate action: A conceptual framework
2022-11-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comSocietal transformations are necessary to address critical global challenges, such as mitigation of anthropogenic climate change and reaching UN susta…
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Mitigation | Tipping Points
Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points
2022-09-09 (or before) in Science | AAASGlobal warming greater than 1.5°C could trigger multiple climate tipping points.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Climate Tipping Points May Be Triggered Even If Warming Peaks at 1.5C
2022-09-09 (or before) in BloombergIce-sheet collapse, abrupt permafrost thaw and the loss of coral reefs are possible even if the world meets Paris Agreement targets, scientists warn.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Coral Reefs | Collapse | Tipping Points
Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points – paper explainer
2022-09-09 in climatetippingpoints.info - Clarity on Climate Tipping Points and FeedbacksA paper presenting an updated assessment of climate tipping points was published yesterday in the journal Science. Here, the paper’s lead author (and publisher of climatetippingpoints.info) D…
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2022-09-09 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceThe term “tipping point” commonly refers to a critical threshold at which a tiny perturbation can qualitatively alter the state or development of a...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts | Tipping Points
Global warming above 1.5C could trigger ‘multiple’ tipping points - Carbon Brief
2022-09-08 by in Carbon BriefThere is a “significant likelihood” that multiple “tipping points” will be crossed if global temperatures exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points, study finds
2022-09-08 in The GuardianGiant ice sheets, ocean currents and permafrost regions may already have passed point of irreversible change
Tagged under: Oceans | Climate Change | Tipping Points
Amazonía Against the Clock: A Regional Assessment on Where and How to Protect 80% by 2025 | Amazon Watch
2022-09-05 in Amazon WatchThe Amazon is in the midst of a tipping point crisis as deforestation and high degradation combined have already reached 26% of the region. However, preserving 80% of the Amazon by 2025 is still possible.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Tipping Points
Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says
2022-09-05 in www.theguardian.comSwathes of rainforest have reached tipping point, research by scientists and Indigenous organisations concludes
Tagged under: Deforestation | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil | Trees | Tipping Points
The Climate Tipping Points - 5. Society - BBC Sounds
2022-06-15 (or before) in The BBCJustin Rowlatt asks if human society could itself be on the cusp of its own tipping point?
Tagged under: Tipping Points
BBC Sounds - The Climate Tipping Points - Available Episodes
2022-06-06 (or before) in The BBCListen to the latest episodes of The Climate Tipping Points on BBC Sounds
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Oregon’s Intertidal Ecosystem Is Approaching a Tipping Point | Hakai Magazine
2022-05-29 (or before) by in Hakai MagazineEcologists are already finding the warning signs—hopefully it’s not too late.
Tagged under: Oregon | Tipping Points
Estimates of economic and environmental damages from tipping points cannot be reconciled with the scientific literature | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2022-05-22 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceEstimates of economic and environmental damages from tipping points cannot be reconciled with the scientific literature
Tagged under: Economics | Tipping Points
Environment tipping points fast approaching in UK, says watchdog
2022-05-12 in The GuardianFrom fisheries collapse to dead rivers, official body urges government to urgently turn ambition into action
Tagged under: Fish | Rivers | Wildlife | Collapse | Tipping Points
Permafrost peatlands approaching tipping point
2022-03-15 (or before) in Science DailyResearchers warn that permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer to a climatic tipping point than previous believed. The frozen peatlands in these areas store up to 39 billion tons of carbon -- the equivalent to twice that stored in the whole of European forests.
Tagged under: Russia | Trees | Tipping Points
‘Imminent’ tipping point threatening Europe’s permafrost peatlands - Carbon Brief
2022-03-14 in Carbon BriefLarge swathes of northern Europe and western Siberia may become “climatically unsuitable” for carbon-rich permafrost peatlands within a few decades.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Russia
Climate crisis: Amazon rainforest tipping point is looming, data shows
2022-03-07 in The GuardianAnalysis of satellite observations show forest is losing stability with ‘profound’ global implications
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Trees
Government unveils plans to crack down on waste
2022-03-02 (or before) in GOV.UKNew plans will help tackle fly-tipping and illegal waste exports through stricter background checks and mandatory digital waste tracking
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Climate Code Red: Have tipping points already been passed for critical climate systems? (6) Permafrost: Beyond the models
2022-01-31 (or before) in Climate Code RedTagged under: Tipping Points
Climate Code Red: Have tipping points already been passed for critical climate systems? (2) West Antarctica and the "doomsday" glacier
2022-01-20 (or before) in Climate Code RedTagged under: Tipping Points | Antarctic
Climate Code Red: Have tipping points already been passed for critical climate systems? (1) The basics
2022-01-19 (or before) in Climate Code RedTagged under: Tipping Points
Time lag between intervention and actual CO2 decrease could still lead to climate tipping point
2021-12-18 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyA simplified mathematical model of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and temperature found a "lag time" between human intervention and an actual decrease in CO2 levels. This lag time has ramifications for intervention strategies meant to avoid climate tipping points and potentially catastrophic temperature increases.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system
2021-12-12 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceThe term “tipping point” commonly refers to a critical threshold at which a tiny perturbation can qualitatively alter the state or development of a system. Here we introduce the term “tipping element” to describe large-scale components of the Earth system that may pass a tipping point. We critically evaluate potential policy-relevant tipping elements in the climate system under anthropogenic forcing, drawing on the pertinent literature and a recent international workshop to compile a short list, and we assess where their tipping points lie. An expert elicitation is used to help rank their sensitivity to g...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
COP26: Why climate change tipping points that could lead to runaway global warming keep me awake at night – Professor Tim Lenton | The Scotsman
2021-11-23 (or before) in The ScotsmanAs a climate scientist, I am increasingly asked: How do you sleep at night?
Tagged under: Tipping Points | COP26 | Climate Change
Climate tipping elements incur high-impact risks
2021-11-04 (or before) in 10insightsclimate - Essential research findings to support decision-making in a critical decadeSome tipping elements can undergo dramatic and non-linear transitions at varying timescales, posing major risks for human societies.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2021-08-23 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceWe explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System toward a planetary threshold that, if crossed, could prevent stabil...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Tipping Points
Economists' erroneous estimates of damages from climate change
2021-08-22 (or before) in arXiv.org e-Print archiveEconomists have predicted that damages from global warming will be as low as 2.1% of global economic production for a 3$^\circ$C rise in global average surface temperature, and 7.9% for a 6$^\circ$C rise. Such relatively trivial estimates of economic damages -- when these economists otherwise assume that human economic productivity will be an order of magnitude higher than today -- contrast strongly with predictions made by scientists of significantly reduced human habitability from climate change. Nonetheless, the coupled economic and climate models used to make such predictions have been influential in the international climat...
Tagged under: Economics | Tipping Points | Predictions | Climate Change | Collapse
73% of people believe Earth approaching tipping points, according to international survey - Global Commons Alliance
2021-08-19 (or before) in Global Commons AllianceToday, the Global Commons Alliance released some fascinating new research highlighting how the public feel about protecting nature and its importance in safeguarding our future. Download the report Earlier this year, in partnership with IPSOS Mori we polled the general public across all G20 countries to find out what they think about the state of […]
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Breaching tipping points would increase economic costs of climate change impacts - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment
2021-08-16 (or before) in London School of EconomicsExceeding tipping points in the climate system could lead to a measurable increase in the economic impacts of climate change,...
Tagged under: Economics | Tipping Points | Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts
New Research Explores the Costs of Climate Tipping Points, and How They Could Compound One Another - Inside Climate News
2021-08-16 in Inside Climate NewsCalculating the future cost of global warming is one of society’s most urgent challenges. And that math will depend on the speed of major shifts in Earth’s climate system, like the complete loss of summer Arctic sea ice or the disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which could raise sea level much faster and […]
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Arctic | Antarctic | Sea Level
Tipping points
2021-08-08 (or before) in Climate Emergency InstituteTagged under: Tipping Points | Climate Change
Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system - Nature Geoscience
2021-07-30 (or before) in NatureA synthesis of intervals of rapid climatic change evident in the geological record reveals some of the Earth system processes and tipping points that could lead to similar events in the future.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds
2021-07-28 in The GuardianCarbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new records
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Ocean Acidification
Is This the Beginning of Runaway Global Warming? | by umair haque | Eudaimonia and Co
2021-07-18 (or before) in Eudaimonia and CoIt’s Beginning to Feel Like We’ve Finally Pushed the Planet Past its Final Tipping Point
Tagged under: Tipping Points
On avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system: Formidable challenges ahead
2021-07-04 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceThe observed increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the preindustrial era has most likely committed the world to a warming of 2.4°C (1.4°C to 4.3°C) above the preindustrial surface temperatures. The committed warming is inferred from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates of the greenhouse forcing and climate sensitivity. The estimated warming of 2.4°C is the equilibrium warming above preindustrial temperatures that the world will observe even if GHG concentrations are held fixed at their 2005 concentration levels but without any other anthropogenic forc...
Tagged under: Oceans | Arctic | Greenhouse Gases | IPCC | Climate Change | Sea Level | Climate Change Mitigation | Tipping Points
Interacting tipping elements increase risk of climate domino effects under global warming
2021-06-04 (or before) in ESD<p><strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> With progressing global warming, there is an increased risk that one or several tipping elements in the climate system might cross a critical threshold, resulting in severe consequences for the global climate, ecosystems and human societies. While the underlying processes are fairly well-understood, it is unclear how their interactions might impact the overall stability of the Earth's climate system. As of yet, this cannot be fully analysed with state-of-the-art Earth system models due to computational constraints as well as some missing and uncer...
Tagged under: Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Antarctic | Tipping Points
Climate tipping points could topple like dominoes, warn scientists
2021-06-03 in The GuardianAnalysis shows significant risk of cascading events even at 2C of heating, with severe long-term effects
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Greenland ice sheet on brink of major tipping point, says study
2021-05-17 in The GuardianScientists say ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea level rise is probably already doomed to melt
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Sea Level
UK landfill tax seems to have incentivised fly-tipping, says watchdog
2021-02-12 in The GuardianGovernment is told it must find better ways to measure effects of environmental taxes
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Boreal forest being driven to tipping point by climate change, study finds | CBC News
2020-10-13 (or before) in CBC.ca - Canada's Public BroadcasterClimate change is forcing the boreal forest that covers much of northern Canada to a tipping point, concludes a newly published study.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Climate Change | Trees
Amazon near tipping point of switching from rainforest to savannah – study
2020-10-05 in The GuardianClimate crisis and logging is leading to shift from canopy rainforest to open grassland
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Bolsonaro | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil | Trees
As Climate Change Worsens, A Cascade of Tipping Points Looms
2020-09-22 (or before) in Yale E360New research warns that the earth may be approaching key tipping points, including the runaway loss of ice sheets, that could fundamentally disrupt the global climate system. A growing concern is a change in ocean circulation, which could alter climate patterns in a profound way.
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Climate Change
Electric vehicles: the future we made and the problem of unmaking it
2020-06-24 (or before) in Oxford AcademicAbstract. The uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), subject to bottlenecks, seems to have reached a tipping point in the UK and this mirrors a general tre
Tagged under: Batteries | Tipping Points
Climate crisis may have pushed world's tropical coral reefs to tipping point of 'near-annual' bleaching
2020-03-31 in The GuardianExclusive: Mass bleaching seen along Great Barrier Reef could mark start of global-scale event, expert warns
Tagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Extreme Weather | Great Barrier Reef | Coral Reefs
Explainer: Nine ‘tipping points’ that could be triggered by climate change - Carbon Brief
2020-02-10 in Carbon BriefTipping points are thresholds where a tiny change could push a system into a completely new state.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Climate Change
Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate
2020-01-29 by David Roberts in VoxA new paper explores how to trigger them.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Climate Change
Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050
2020-01-22 (or before) in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceAchieving a rapid global decarbonization to stabilize the climate critically depends on activating contagious and fast-spreading processes of social and technological change within the next few years. Drawing on expert elicitation, an expert workshop, and a review of literature, which provides a comprehensive analysis on this topic, we propose concrete interventions to induce positive social tipping dynamics and a rapid global transformation to carbon-neutral societies. These social tipping interventions comprise removing fossil-fuel subsidies and incentivizing decentralized energy generation, building carbon-neutral cities, div...
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change | Fossil Fuels | Tipping Points
Climate refugees can't be returned home, says landmark UN human rights ruling
2020-01-20 in The GuardianExperts say judgment is ‘tipping point’ that opens the door to climate crisis claims for protection
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Geographers find tipping point in deforestation
2020-01-08 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyUniversity of Cincinnati geography researchers have identified a tipping point for deforestation that leads to rapid forest loss.
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Trees
Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against
2019-12-02 (or before) in NatureThe growing threat of abrupt and irreversible climate changes must compel political and economic action on emissions. The growing threat of abrupt and irreversible climate changes must compel political and economic action on emissions.
Tagged under: Tipping Points | Climate Change
Earth may have already hit climate change 'tipping point' leading to catastrophic domino effect that threatens civilisation's existence | The Independent | The Independent
2019-11-28 in The IndependentScientists call for ‘urgent emergency response’ to tackle global greenhouse gas emissions
Tagged under: Deforestation | Amazon Rainforest | Trees | Tipping Points | Antarctic | Arctic
Climate emergency: world 'may have crossed tipping points’
2019-11-27 in The GuardianWarning of ‘existential threat to civilisation’ as impacts lead to cascade of unstoppable events
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Trees
Amazon rainforest 'close to irreversible tipping point'
2019-10-23 in The GuardianForecast suggests rainforest could stop producing enough rain to sustain itself by 2021
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Bolsonaro | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil | Trees
Tipping Points in the Earth Climate System. Dr Andrew Glikson returns to Nature Bats Last
2019-08-07 in Kevin HesterTodays guest on Nature Bats Last was Dr Andrew Glikson from the Australian National University. Dr Andrew Glikson is a geologist living in Australia. He is an Earth scientist and paleo-climatologis…
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Amazon deforestation accelerating towards unrecoverable 'tipping point'
2019-07-25 in The GuardianData confirms fears that Jair Bolsonaro’s policy encourages illegal logging in Brazil
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points | Bolsonaro | Rainforests | Amazon Rainforest | Brazil
Fact-Check: do tipping points commit us to rapid catastrophic warming?
2019-04-15 in climatetippingpoints.info - Clarity on Climate Tipping Points and FeedbacksThis is the third post in a new climatetippingoints.info series fact-checking claims that various climate tipping points have been crossed, and that sudden catastrophic warming is now inevitable. S…
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Concrete is tipping us into climate catastrophe. It's payback time
2019-02-25 in The GuardianCement has transformed the world, but now threatens to wreck the environment. We need to tax it, now
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Tipping Points
Greenland’s Melting Ice Nears a ‘Tipping Point,’ Scientists Say (Published 2019)
2019-01-21 in The New York TimesTagged under: Oceans | Tipping Points | Arctic | Ice Melting
Risks of 'domino effect' of tipping points greater than thought, study says
2018-12-20 in The GuardianScientists warn policymakers not to ignore links, and stress that ‘every action counts’
Tagged under: Deforestation | Tipping Points
Don’t feed the fossil fuel elephant - Policy Forum
2018-12-07 in Policy ForumTo prevent the world crossing a climate tipping point, we have to start crossing some social ones, Penny D Sackett and Will Steffen write. Last week, To prevent the world crossing a climate tipping point, we have to start crossing some social ones, Penny D Sackett and Will Steffen write.
Tagged under: Tipping Points
Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2018-8-14 in PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of ScienceWe explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System toward a planetary threshold that, if crossed, could prevent stabil...
Tagged under: Tipping Points
'Thousands of models': Planetary boundaries, values & power - STEPS Centre
2015-01-16 in Steps Centre - Exploring Pathways to SustainabilityThe role of current patterns of human habitation in earth systems processes is pushing beyond planetary boundaries; which is to say our impacts on climate and biosphere risk tipping our environments into states dangerous to our societies. As Katherine Richardson from Copenhagen University puts it, “Earth is familiar with large environmental changes, but modern human...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts | Tipping Points
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