Climate change disasters such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet or the dieback of the Amazon rainforest could be predicted, according to University of Exeter research.

These disasters are triggered by “tipping points”, which are small changes that trigger a massive shift in climate systems and are often assumed to be unpredictable.

A system of forecasting could be developed to provide forewarning of high-risk tipping points. It would analyse observation data to look for signs that indicates the climate is becoming unstable and may be approaching critical thresholds.