Thread by @btincq

The state of climate 🌍 tipping points — sobering yet essential piece by @owengaffney @jrockstrom @AlexSteffen @KRichardsonC in @nature

#ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #ClimateTech

nature.com/articles/d4158…

« Two decades ago [tipping points] were considered likely only if global warming exceeded 5 °C [...] IPCC Special Reports suggest that tipping points could be exceeded even between 1 and 2 °C of warming »

« Remaining emissions budget for a 50:50 chance of staying within 1.5 °C of warming is only about 500 Gt of CO2. Permafrost emissions could take an estimated 20% (100 Gt CO2) off (...) and that’s without including methane from deep permafrost or undersea hydrates. » (...)

(...) « If forests are close to tipping points, Amazon dieback could release another 90 Gt CO2 and boreal forests a further 110 Gt CO211. With global total CO2 emissions still at more than 40 Gt per year, the remaining budget could be all but erased already. »

« We might already have lost control of whether tipping happens. A saving grace is that the rate at which damage accumulates from tipping — and hence the risk posed — could still be under our control to some extent. »