Planet has ‘already reached climate change tipping points’ as leading scientists warn we are heading for catastrophic domino effect
- Scientists say 9 ‘tipping points’ leading to climate catastrophe already reached
- So much damage done that global warming could create a domino effect
- The scientists said urgent action is needed before further milestones passed
Nine key ‘tipping points’ that will lead to catastrophic climate change have already been reached, warn leading scientists.
They say that so much damage has been done in these nine areas that the effects of global warming could accelerate and create a domino effect, threatening humanity.
The tipping points, the authors say, are: a loss of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, loss of ice in Greenland, thawing of permafrost in Russia, large-scale die-offs of coral, a slowdown of ocean currents in the Atlantic, droughts in the Amazonrain forest and fires in the far north of Canada and Russia.
Glacier melting in the Antarctic. Nine key ‘tipping points’ that will lead to catastrophic climate change have already been reached, warn leading scientists
The scientists, writing in the journal Nature, said urgent action was needed to reduce emissions before further milestones are passed.
One of the team, Johan Rockstrom, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said experts had underestimated the risks of ‘unleashing irreversible changes where the planet self-amplifies global warming.’