Current warming risks triggering at least five tipping points: Study

At the current level of warming, the world risks triggering at least five tipping points “posing threats of a magnitude never faced by humanity”, new research has found, which experts warned may cause “devastating domino effects” for the world. Based on an assessment of 26 Earth system tipping points, The Global Tipping Points Report by an international team 200 scientists and coordinated by the University of Exeter, said that current global governance is “inadequate for the scale of the challenge”. “Five major tipping points are already at risk of being crossed due to warming right now and three more are threatened in the 2030s as the world exceeds 1.5°C global warming,” the report said. Tipping points can trigger devastating domino effects, said lead author Tim Lenton, professor at Exeter’s Global Systems Institute.