Interacting tipping elements increase risk of climate domino effects under global warming

3 June 2021

In the Earth system, climate tipping elements exist that can undergo qualitative changes in response to environmental perturbations. If triggered, this would result in severe consequences for the biosphere and human societies. The authors quantify the risk of tipping cascades using a conceptual but fully dynamic network approach. They uncover that the risk of tipping cascades under global warming scenarios is enormous and find that the continental ice sheets are most likely to initiate these failures.

The press release by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) can be found at: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/tipping-elements-can-destabilize-each-other-leading-to-climate-domino-effects

Contact: Nico Wunderling (nico.wunderling@pik-potsdam.de) and Ricarda Winkelmann (ricarda.winkelmann@pik-potsdam.de)