Earth approaching climate tipping points

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.

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.