Climate change can trigger global domino effects that are self-reinforcing and can sometimes no longer be reversed. A new report identifies the sore points of the Earth system – but also shows positive examples
A much-used metaphor for how humanity deals with global warming is the frog in the cooking pot. Legend has it that if the pot is heated very gradually, the frog will hardly notice it for a long time. Until at some point the fatal overheating made it impossible for him to hop out of the tub. A pointed picture of climate change, which also appears to occur slowly and at some point has dramatic effects.
Some of these consequences could even develop a self-reinforcing dynamic: many elements of the earth and climate system are considered by experts to be so critical and unstable that they could “tip over” relatively quickly and trigger real domino effects in the climate system – with far-reaching and possibly irreversible consequences for ecosystems and humanity.