Warming is accelerating, threatening a cascade of tipping points that destabilize the climate.
Warming is accelerating, threatening a cascade of tipping points that destabilize the climate. In a new paper, scientists say the risk of “hothouse Earth” is greater than once believed.
“After a million years of oscillating between ice ages separated by warmer periods, the Earth’s climate stabilized more than 11,000 years ago, enabling agriculture and complex societies,” said William Ripple of Oregon State University, lead author of the paper. “We’re now moving away from that stability and could be entering a period of unprecedented climate change.”
A decade ago, countries set forth in the Paris Agreement a target of capping warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Earth is now likely breaching that threshold. The world has not officially surpassed the Paris target, which will be judged according to the average temperature over 20 years, but the average temperature over the last three years exceeded 1.5 degrees.
Read More: Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: biollama via Pixabay
