Climate researchers warn in report: Three new Earth systems are at risk of tipping over

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Changing climate systems can trigger devastating domino effects with consequences for the entire world: failure to grow basic foods, crop failures, hunger, spread of diseases, mass migration.

And researchers have published a report naming eight systems that are on the verge of collapse. This is what it says in the “Global Tipping Points Report”.

Determine the fate of thousands of years

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which was involved in the report, said that in addition to the five so-called tipping systems already threatened, three more systems could be threatened if global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees in the 2030s. work. But the report also sees opportunities for so-called “positive tipping points.”

PIK researcher Sina Loriani, one of the report’s lead authors, explained that breaching rollover systems “can trigger fundamental and sometimes sudden changes.” These “could irreversibly determine the fate of significant parts of our Earth system for the next hundreds or thousands of years.”

More than 200 researchers participated in the study, led by the British University of Exeter, according to PIK. PIK researcher Loriani explained that this is “the most comprehensive overview to date of turning points in the Earth system.”

Systems under threat

Climate researchers talk about tipping points, when certain climate events exceed thresholds that can no longer be reversed. The report’s authors include tipping systems currently under threat:

• greenland ice sheet
• Ice sheet in West Antarctica
• warm water coral reefs,
• Subpolar vortex circulation in the North Atlantic
• permafrost regions

Three new systems are now being added. Systems that may be additionally threatened starting in the 2030s include:

• northern forests
• mangroves
• sea ​​meadows

PIK researcher Jonathan Donges explained that the analysis makes clear that current climate change could cause “fundamental changes in fundamental elements of the Earth system.” These can lead to “violent conflict or the collapse of political institutions” due to their impact on human societies.

But the report’s authors also see opportunities for so-called “positive tipping points” that could be crucial to “stabilizing the planet and avoiding the negative impacts on societies of tipping points in the Earth system,” according to PIK. Such “non-linear changes” can already be observed in the renewable energy and electric vehicle markets. Additionally, political decisions can trigger these “sudden” positive social and technological changes.

The report on the tipping points is expected to be presented at the current COP28 world climate conference in Dubai on Wednesday morning (local time). (SDA/neo)

Source : Blick