The time is now

An informative article recently published in Nature explores the climate tipping points that are too risky to bet against. In a call for immediate political and economic action on emissions, the authors stress the increasing evidence that major events like “the loss of the Amazon rainforest or the West Antarctic ice sheet” could, in fact, take place. As tipping points, these events occur when the impact of global heating becomes unstoppable. Once crossed, we cannot return and may face cascading effects. While the science of tipping points is complex and often uncertain, the authors urge that risks are too high to ignore. However, they also insist that their article is not intended to cause further despair. Rather, their intention is to activate “some positive social and economic tipping points [such as renewable energy] towards what should ultimately be a happier, flourishing, sustainable future for the generations to come,” according to the Guardian.

Image by Felipe Werneck - Ascom/Ibama via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.