Share this on social media
How could positive 'tipping points' accelerate climate action?
(Reuters, 20 Sep 2022) As catastrophic climate change tipping points loom, could positive shifts toward green action also be speeding up?
Scientists believe dangerous climate change "tipping points" are approaching - from surging sea levels as polar ice melts to fast-spiking temperatures as methane escapes thawing permafrost.
A study published this month in the journal Science found that four dangerous planetary tipping points are likely if global warming reaches more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures.
That limit - which governments are striving to keep to under the 2015 Paris Agreement - could be passed within a decade, scientists have warned.
Tipping points happen when a small change - such as an incremental increase in global temperature - sparks a rapid and often irreversible transformation.
But they may not all be bad. "Positive" tipping points for the climate are also possible, as solar and wind power grows cheaper than fossil fuels, electric vehicles take off, meat substitutes become tastier and social norms shift.
External link
Reuters, 20 Sep 2022: How could positive 'tipping points' accelerate climate action?
