Climate turning points worry scientists
To better understand the phenomenon of global warming, scientists from the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom have carried out studies on climatic variations. The results of their investigations reveal that the Earth’s temperature is increasing to the point of reaching vertices of reversals.
A tipping point is a global temperature rise that causes a localized weather system, or tipping element (Amazon rainforest, Greenland ice cap), to decline irreversibly. Unfortunately, the current climatic situation is worrying and action needs to be taken.
Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter in the UK, was the lead author of the study. The various findings of the research are listed in the review LiveScience.
Tipping points are closer than they appear
The researchers identified 16 reversal elements that potentially reached their point of no return if the planetary temperature increases by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. These factors include the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, Arctic permafrost, tropical coral reefs, and an ocean current in the Labrador Sea. According to scientists, these elements are in the danger zonemeaning they are rapidly approaching their tipping points.
Previous estimates predicted that tipping points would only be reached if Earth’s temperature rises by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving humanity ready for change. However, the study suggests an acceleration of said process. Researchers therefore believe that there is a correlation between the tipping centers. Thus, the fall of one of them could increase the probability of the collapse of another.
“Since my knowledge of climate tipping points, I have noticed that they have greatly increased and so has their impact. »
Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter in the UK
It’s time for awareness
Given the urgency of the situation, strict measures must be taken. First, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced before starting irreversible chain disasters. To speed things up, the researchers say, there needs to be a social tipping point.
This is a speculative threshold in public opinion which, when reached, will force governments and big business to take drastic climate action. The only constraint is that you have to reach this peak before the climatic tipping points are exceeded.
SOURCE: LIVESCIENCE
