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Planet on the edge: 'Tipping points' of rapid and irreversible climate change

From vast forest fires to coral reefs bleached ghostly white to melting ice sheets, the Earth's vital signs are in trouble. Scientists say the planet is on the cusp of crossing 'tipping points' of rapid and irreversible change. Climate Change Editor David Fogarty spoke to scientists to find out how close human beings are to crossing into a new and more dangerous world.

Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. A common squid swimmin
A group of chinstrap penguins walking on top of an iceberg floating near Lemaire Channel. PHOTO: REUTERS
Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. A common squid swimmin
Freshly broken bergs from the Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. A common squid swimmin
Sled dogs wading through standing water on the sea ice during an expedition in North Western Greenland. Ice loss has dramatically accelerated and Greenland is losing ice seven times faster than in the 1990s, PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. A common squid swimmin
A common squid swimming over mostly dead plate coral on one of the outer reefs off Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia. Globally, reefs are in bad shape. Marine heatwaves can kill wide areas of coral. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. A common squid swimmin
Smoke billowing from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest. The worry is that escalating deforestation, more severe droughts and fires will dry out the Amazon and turn it into a vast savannah, and a huge net source of CO2. PHOTO: REUTERS
David Fogarty
Climate Change Editor
Updated
Apr 28, 2020, 10:26 AM
Published
Mar 10, 2020, 05:00 AM
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Last November, a small group of leading climate scientists issued a warning about planetary tipping points and the need to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit the risks to humanity.

"Evidence is mounting that these events could be more likely than was thought, have high impacts and are interconnected across different biophysical systems, potentially committing the world to long-term irreversible changes," they wrote in the journal Nature.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 10, 2020, with the headline Planet on the edge: 'Tipping points' of rapid and irreversible climate change. Subscribe

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