A new study underlines the critical importance of adhering to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C warming limit to prevent the destabilization of key Earth systems, stating that current policies might lead to higher global warming and increased tipping risks.
Researchers highlight the severe risks of destabilizing Earth’s tipping elements like ice sheets and ocean currents due to climate change, emphasizing the need to maintain the 1.5 °C limit set by the Paris Agreement to avoid dire future consequences. Failure to adhere to these limits increases the likelihood of tipping events, which are significant changes that could impact global climate stability for centuries.
Anthropogenic climate change could destabilize large-scale components of the Earth system such as ice sheets or ocean circulation patterns, the so-called tipping elements. While these components will not tip overnight, fundamental processes are put into motion unfolding over tens, hundreds, or thousands of years. These changes are of such a serious nature that they should be avoided at all costs, the researchers argue.
In their new study, published today (August 1) in
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