As climate 'tipping points' near, scientists plan for the unthinkable

(Reuters, 16 Sep 2022) As irreversible 'tipping points' loom, scientists are trying to figure out how to communicate the risks - and push action.

With new evidence that catastrophic climate-change "tipping points" are nearing - from surging sea levels as polar ice melts to spiking temperatures as methane escapes thawing permafrost - scientists are quietly planning for the unthinkable.

"Extreme climate change risks are under-explored," Luke Kemp, a researcher with the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, warned at a pioneering conference on the theme at the University of Exeter this week.

"Climate scholars have strong incentives to err on the side of least drama," he noted. "You don't want to be branded an alarmist."

But with fossil fuel emissions still going up and climate-fuelled disasters multiplying, it's time for an "honest assessment of the risks and what can be done", he told an audience stunned into silence by frank assessments of looming threats.

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Reuters, 16 Sep 2022: As climate 'tipping points' near, scientists plan for the unthinkable