Key climate tipping point is BREACHED for the first time

"With global warming on track to climb past 1.5°C (2.7°F), scientists say that warm-water coral reefs are now passing their thermal tipping point. That means the reefs on which a quarter of marine life and nearly a billion people rely will almost certainly be lost. With Earth now poised on the brink of more tipping points, scientists warn that climate change will continue to cause 'catastrophic harm' unless urgent action is taken."

"Professor Tim Lenton, Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, told Daily Mail that these are 'The point where a change in the state of a system becomes self-propelling, producing accelerating and hard-to-reverse change.' He adds: 'In the climate, crossing tipping points are among the biggest risks we face.' Unlike most climate threats, which are increasing steadily over time, tipping points risk causing rapidly escalating and widespread damage."

Warm-water coral reefs have passed their thermal tipping point and face near-certain loss as global warming approaches and exceeds 1.5°C. The second Global Tipping Points report, prepared by 160 scientists from 23 countries, identifies thresholds where climate damage can become self-propelling and rapidly escalate. The reefs support a quarter of marine species and nearly a billion people through food and income, so their collapse will have severe ecological and socioeconomic consequences. Scientists warn that additional tipping points—including the Amazon rainforest, polar ice sheets and major ocean currents—are at risk unless rapid, decisive emissions cuts and adaptation measures are implemented.

Read at Mail Online