Guardian: Global warming will change the climate on Earth forever
Global warming may lead to irreversible climate changes on Earth, writes the Guardian. Recent research claims that the world has come much closer to the "point of no return" than previously expected. Scientists are confident that the consequences of turning the planet into a "greenhouse" will be devastating for humanity.
Damian Carrington
Ongoing global warming can lead to irreversible consequences, triggering critical climate change, but most people are unaware of this.
According to scientists, the world is closer to the "point of no return" than expected. After it passes, global warming will be impossible to stop.
The researchers claim that ongoing global warming can trigger climate changes that will lead to a series of further chain reactions. This will turn the world into a new hellish "greenhouse" with a climate much worse than the one the world is moving towards now with a temperature increase of 2-3°C. The climate will be very different from the favorable conditions of the last eleven thousand years, during which human civilization has developed.
With global warming of just 1.3°C in recent years, extreme weather conditions have already claimed lives and deprived people around the world of their sources of income. With a 3-4°C warming, "the economy and society will cease to function as we know them," scientists said last week, but the "greenhouse Earth" will become even more incandescent.
According to the researchers, the public and politicians are mostly unaware of the risk of passing the point of no return. The scientists explained that they issued this warning for a good reason: although it is difficult to quickly and dramatically reduce the burning of fossil fuels, it will most likely be impossible to change course after the Earth begins to turn into a greenhouse. And this will happen even if emissions can be drastically reduced later.
It is difficult to predict when a tipping point in the climate will occur, so it is extremely important to take precautions, said Dr. Christopher Wolfe, a scientist at Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates in the United States. Wolfe is part of a research group that also includes Professor Johan Rockstrom from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.
"Exceeding even some thresholds can lead to a greenhouse effect on the planet," Wolfe said. "Politicians and the public are still largely unaware of the risks associated with what will effectively be a transition to the point of no return. It is likely that global temperatures have already equaled or even exceeded the highs of the last 125,000 years, and climate change is proceeding faster than many scientists predicted," he added.
There is also a possibility that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the highest in the last 2 million years.
Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter in the UK, an expert on "points of no return" in the climate system, said: "We understand that the current trajectory of climate change carries enormous risks. It cannot be ruled out that the climate will eventually become less habitable. However, in order for humanity to face the most serious threats, it is not necessary to slide into the scenario of turning the Earth into a "greenhouse". These threats will loom over us already if we continue to move towards global warming by 3°C."
The review, published in the journal One Earth, summarizes the latest scientific evidence on climate feedbacks and sixteen critical elements of the system. These elements include the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, mountain glaciers, polar sea ice, subarctic forests and permafrost, as well as the rain forests of the Amazon. In addition, the Atlantic Meridional Tipping Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that has a powerful impact on the global climate, is included in the list.
According to scientists, the tipping point may have already arrived in Greenland and west Antarctica, and permafrost, mountain glaciers and the Amazon rainforest seem to be close to it.
"Research shows that some components of the Earth's climate system may be closer to destabilization than previously thought," they concluded. "While the exact risk remains uncertain, it is clear that current commitments to combat climate change are insufficient."
Professor William Ripple of the University of Oregon, who led the work on this analysis, explained: "The AMOC current system is already showing signs of weakening, which increases the risk of loss of Amazon forests. The carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of the disappearance of these forests will further accelerate global warming and interact with other feedback mechanisms. We must act quickly. Our ability to prevent dangerous and uncontrollable climate impacts is rapidly dwindling."
Back in 2018, scientists warned about the prospect of turning the planet into a "greenhouse Earth." According to this scenario, the global temperature for thousands of years will significantly exceed even those indicators that are included in the current worst-case forecasts related to warming by 4 °C. This will trigger a huge rise in sea level and flooding of coastal cities. As the researchers noted at the time, "the consequences of moving along the trajectory of turning the Earth into a greenhouse for human society are likely to be large-scale, sometimes sudden and undoubtedly devastating."
