tipping over

Climate tipping points were once a hypothetical risk in a distant future. After humanity spent the first quarter of the new century not sorting out climate change, we're now at the point where shit gets real. Tipping points will tip, and it's only a question of when, and how they will interact with each other. For instance, the Greenland ice sheet may topple the North Atlantic's AMOC (and thus the Gulf Stream), which in turn may kill the Amazon rain forest. Interesting times.

I remember very vividly a climate workshop back in 2012 where we were told that AMOC was safe. I wrote a feature about it then. Now there is mounting evidence that AMOC is no longer stable and could pass its tipping point at any time. So I had to write another feature to correct my record on that.

This feature is out now:

North Atlantic tipping point ahead

Current Biology Volume 34, Issue 5, 11 March 2024, Pages R175-R177

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See also my new Mastodon thread where I will highlight all this year's CB features.

Last year's thread is here .

After recent rapid heating in the Arctic and accelerated melting of Greenland ice, the collapse of the Gulf Stream has become a real possibility. (Photo: Jennifer Latuperisa-Andresen/Unsplash.)