Home
Weather Dublin
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Earth approaching climate tipping points

15:00
11 September 2022

Global warming
Earth approaching climate tipping points

Juxtaposed weather conditions

The planet is at risk of crossing six climate tipping points according to new analysis.

A climate tipping point is described by the United Nations as a critical threshold at which a system reorganises, often abruptly, and/or irreversibly on a human timescale.

Now, research led by Stockholm University and the University of Exeter suggests that exceeding 1.5C in global temperature rising is likely to trigger multiple tipping points.

The researchers analysed data published since 2008 and over 200 studies to determine these six tipping points.

Once a point is met, there is a self-sustaining breakdown of the feature which cannot be halted even if global warming is slowed or halted.

The six tipping points
Collapse of the Greenland Ice SheetCoral reef die off in low latitudes
Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice SheetThawing of permafrost in northern regions
Collapse of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic's polar regionRapid sea ice loss in the Barents Sea

Last year Climate Action Tracker says that even the most optimistic climate scenario would see global warming of 1.8C compared to the pre-industrial era.

Unfortunately many of these tipping points are interlinked. For example if an ice sheet collapses there is less snow and ice to reflect sunlight away from the ground resulting in faster warmings and further melting.

Other tipping points include dieback of the Amazon rainforest, a shift in the West African monsoon, and greening of the Sahara Desert.

Ryan Hathaway
More on the topic
Severe weather rolls on in Europe. Heavy rain and hail. . . Thursday 17 September 2026
Weather radar showing severe thunderstorms and frequent lightning over northern Italy.
Thursday 17 September 2026

Heavy rain and hail

Severe weather rolls on in Europe
Autumn colours light the skies. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 13 September 2026
Split image showing a fiery red-orange sunset over a rural road and fields beside a golden sea sunset with a silhouetted seabird in flight.
Sunday 13 September 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Autumn colours light the skies
How El Niño impacts us worldwide. What actually is it?. . . Tuesday 15 September 2026
teaser
Tuesday 15 September 2026

What actually is it?

How El Niño impacts us worldwide
All weather news
This might also interest you
Storm Chandra makes impact. Severe gales & heavy rain. . . Tuesday 27 January 2026
Split image showing strong winds over the UK on a forecast map and widespread rain and snow on a weather radar map.
Tuesday 27 January 2026

Severe gales & heavy rain

Storm Chandra makes impact
Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan. Up to 1,000 mm of rain. . Weather Videos. Wednesday 8 July 2026
The image shows an intense tropical cyclone over the western Pacific, east of Taiwan and the Philippines. The centre of the system is depicted as a light purple and white vortex with a clearly visible eye, surrounded by a ring of red and orange areas indicating the strongest wind speeds. A white arrow marks the typhoon’s predicted track towards the north-west, in the direction of Taiwan. To the west of the storm lie the Philippines, with the cities of Manila and Cebu; to the north of these lies Taiwan, with Taipei. Further west, the Chinese coast, including Hong Kong, and parts of Vietnam can be seen. The coloured wind map shows predominantly green areas outside the storm’s core, indicating significantly weaker winds. White streamlines illustrate the typhoon’s anti-clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest wind speeds are concentrated around the eye of the cyclone.
Weather VideosWednesday 8 July 2026

Up to 1,000 mm of rain

Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwitteryouTubelinkList