O=C=O<p>Exploring the risks of ‘cascading’ tipping points in a warming world</p><p>Tipping elements within the Earth system are increasingly well understood. </p><p>Scientists have identified more than 25 parts of the Earth’s <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>climate</span></a> system that are likely to have <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/TippingPoints" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TippingPoints</span></a> – thresholds where a small additional change in global warming will cause them to irreversibly shift into a new state.</p><p>The “tipping” of these systems – which include the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (<a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/AMOC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AMOC</span></a>), the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Amazon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Amazon</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/rainforest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rainforest</span></a> and the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Greenland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Greenland</span></a> ice sheet – would have profound consequences for both the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/biosphere" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biosphere</span></a> and people. </p><p>More recent research suggests that triggering one tipping element could cause subsequent changes in other tipping elements, potentially leading to a <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/TippingCascade" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TippingCascade</span></a>.</p><p>For example, a collapsed AMOC could lead to dieback of the Amazon rainforest and hasten the melt of the Greenland ice sheet.</p><p>However, the interactions between individual tipping elements – and the ways they might trigger each other – remain largely underexplored.</p><p>In a review study, published last year in Earth System Dynamics, we unpack the current state of scientific understanding of the interactions between individual tipping elements. </p><p>We find that scientific literature suggests the majority of interactions between tipping elements will lead to further destabilisation of the climate system. </p><p>Existing research also indicates that “tipping cascades” could occur even under current <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/GlobalWarming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GlobalWarming</span></a> projections.</p><p>Scientific understanding of individual <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/TippingElements" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TippingElements</span></a> is continuously improving, but more research on their interactions is needed.</p><p><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-exploring-the-risks-of-cascading-tipping-points-in-a-warming-world/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">carbonbrief.org/guest-post-exp</span><span class="invisible">loring-the-risks-of-cascading-tipping-points-in-a-warming-world/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateScience</span></a></p>