Crossing these thresholds would disrupt the Earth's systems triggering the collapse of ice sheets and the loss of coral reefs. Scientific commentators have previously said that reaching such a point would be a "climatic emergency".
The researchers analysed evidence for tipping points from 200 recent papers. They considered: At what temperature the tipping points would be reached What impacts there would be for Earth's other systems Over what timescales the impacts would be felt. The research, based on data published since 2008, found that at current levels of global heating the world is already at risk of triggering six dangerous climate tipping points, and risks increase with each tenth of a degree of warming. The Climate Action Tracker estimates that even under an optimistic scenario if current global climate targets are achieved, the world will see average warming of 1.8 C.
The idea of "climate tipping points" was first introduced by the UN's climate science group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), two decades ago. If crossed they could spark a significant change in the way the Earth's systems operate, affecting oceans, weather and chemical processes, which could be "irreversible", according to the UN.
No comments:
Post a Comment