The Earth is careening toward disaster in the next decade as global warming triggers irreversible planetary changes, scientists warn in a new alarmist report.
In the new “Global Tipping Points 2023” report, Professor Tim Lenton of the University of Exeter and his team of 200 worldwide researchers identify five natural systems currently at risk of crossing “tipping points” that could trigger “catastrophic” global changes. Three more of these tipping points may be reached in the 2030s if the planet heats 2.7 degrees Farenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial temperatures, the report warns.
The report is led by the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute and funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion initiative launched by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2020. The fund provides research grants to address climate change and nature within the current decade, according to its website.
“Tipping points in the Earth system pose threats of a magnitude never faced by humanity,” Lenton said in a news release. “They can trigger devastating domino effects, including the loss of whole ecosystems and capacity to grow staple crops, with societal impacts including mass displacement, political instability and financial collapse.
“But tipping points also offer our best hope: we need to prioritize and trigger positive tipping points in our societies and economies,” he added.
According to the report, the tipping points at immediate risk include the collapse of ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic, the degradation of warm-water coral reefs, the melting of permafrost and changing ocean currents in the North Atlantic.
