PARIS - Humanity faces an "unprecedented" risk from tipping points that could unleash a domino effect of irreversible catastrophes across the planet, researchers warned on Dec 6.
The most comprehensive assessment ever conducted of earth's invisible tripwires was released as leaders meet for the United Nations COP28 climate talks in Dubai, with 2023 set to smash all heat records.
While many of the 26 tipping points laid out in the report, such as melting ice sheets, are linked to global warming, other human activities like razing swathes of the Amazon rainforest could also push ecosystems to the brink.
Five of these are showing signs of tipping from melting ice sheets threatening catastrophic sea level rise, to mass die-off of tropical coral reefs the report warned.
Some may have already begun to irrecoverably transform.
Once the world crosses the threshold for just one tipping point, dealing with the immediate humanitarian disaster could distract attention away from stopping the others, creating a vicious circle of mass hunger, displacement and conflict, the report warned.
Professor Tim Lenton, an earth system scientist at the University of Exeter and lead author of the report, said these tipping points pose a "threat of a magnitude that is unprecedented for humanity".
This story is from the December 07, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 07, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Response to retention of Siglap block shows everyday buildings have value
As to what to do with it now, one could look to Hong Kong's Mei Ho House for inspiration
Worker taken to hospital after falling 2.3m at RTS Link construction site
A construction worker was injured on Oct 10 after falling from a height of about 2.3m at a worksite for the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link station in Woodlands North.
Battered Florida begins long road to recovery after major hurricanes
Many still without power, water and sewage services; clearing of debris may take months
Famous red gate at Tokyo university in danger of collapsing
TOKYO — Generations of Japan’s top scholars and leaders have passed through it on their way to building an advanced society. Now the Akamon Gate, the distinctive red gate on The University of Tokyo’s campus in central Tokyo, is in danger of collapse.
Northern Lights animate night skies around the globe
NEW YORK - Night skies came aglow on Oct 10 with the shimmering palette of the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis.
Remains of climber who went missing 100 years ago found on Everest
KATHMANDU – A documentary team discovered human remains on Mount Everest apparently belonging to a man who went missing while trying to reach the summit of the peak 100 years ago, National Geographic magazine reported on Oct 11.
From timber to tech Sibu's spotty transition to joining Sarawak's booming economy
SIBU, Sarawak - On the hour-long cruise along Sibu's waterfront, a recorded audio commentary boasts that the town once had more millionaires than anywhere else in Borneo, thanks to the post-war timber boom.
Two Singaporeans among six opera performers arrested in Penang
BUTTERWORTH, Penang - Six foreign opera actors, including two Singaporean women, were apprehended in Penang, Malaysia, for allegedly breaching their social visit passes by staging performances.
Woman in Russian tank factory sent to penal colony for selling info to Ukraine
MOSCOW - A woman who worked for a Russian tank factory was convicted of treason and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in a penal colony on Oct 11 for selling military information to Ukraine.
Malaysians capitalising on stronger ringgit to buy gadgets
GEORGE TOWN, Penang - With the ringgit on an upward trend, upgrading electronic gadgets seems to be on everyone's minds in Malaysia now.
