We don’t yet fully understand what global climate tipping points mean for Australia. But we know enough to conclude the impacts of passing one or more tipping points must now be considered.
Steven R. Smith, University of Surrey; Caroline Zimm, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and Tim Lenton, University of Exeter
Climate change is going to bring social change. Will it drive ever-faster efforts to stave off the worst – or trigger social upheavals making it harder for us to respond?
When Buckingham Palace announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, the news overshadowed reporting of a critical review of climate tipping points, published in Science. Did you miss it?
Australia must treble its emissions reduction targets and reach net-zero emissions by 2035. Without this and other radical global action, the chance to hold warming to well below 2°C will pass us by.
Nations are signed up to limit global heating to well below 2°C, and to aim for 1.5°C. Limiting warming to the latter matters - the future of humanity and the living world is at stake.
The Earth is on the edge of being pushed over a planetary threshold that could lead to a “Hothouse Earth.” But if we take the risks seriously there is room for a more benign future.
The climate secrets contained in an ancient tree that lived through abrupt global change reveal how Antarctica can trigger rapid warming in the north by dumping cold water into the Southern Ocean.
The Industrial Revolution led to centuries of social and economic upheaval. Are economists telling us not to worry about workplace automation because things will be better in a couple hundred years?
More and more research shows that we are likely to pass the 2 degree Celsius temperature limit much of the world has agreed on. Where did that limit come from, and what if we miss it?