Scientists identify 'tipping points' of climate change

February 5, 2008
Scientists identify 'tipping points' of climate change

Nine ways in which the Earth could be tipped into a potentially dangerous state that could last
for many centuries have been identified by scientists investigating how quickly global warming could run out of control.

A major international investigation by dozens of leading climate scientists has found that the "tipping points" for all nine scenarios – such as the melting of the Arctic sea ice or the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest – could occur within the next 100 years.