NASA puts Warming Tipping Point within 10 years

In a startling article from abcnews.com, author Bill Blakemore brings to light NASA and Columbia University Earth Institute’s recently conducted study that verifiably asserts that “with just 10 more years of ‘business as usual,’ it becomes impractical to avoid disastrous effects.” The forecast, as articulated by the study’s lead author, James Hansen of NASA, sounds like the worst parts of the Bible, predicting everything from “increasingly rapid sea-level rise, increased frequency of droughts and floods, and increased stress on wildlife and plants due to rapidly shifting climate zones.” The 10-year timeframe shows other recent climate studies to have underestimated the urgency of the window in which we can make significant changes.

The study identifies the “tipping points” as the “points of no return” moments that would quickly turn a dangerous situation into “potentially catastrophic for civilization.” In response to the study’s findings, NASA is endorsing science that places “considerably more urgency on the need to reduce emissions to avoid “disastrous effects” of global warming,” and emphasizing “the danger of ’strong amplifying feedbacks’ pushing Earth past dangerous tipping points.”

The article also points to “uncontrollable feedback loops,” the disappearance of reflective Arctic ice and snow, and dangerous levels of CO2 (450+ parts per million) as catalysts bringing us closer to these tipping points.

NASA: Danger Point Closer Than Thought From Warming

Hansen: Climate Tipping Points: The Threat to the Planet

James Hansen on Wikipedia

James Hansen website

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