KATY McGAHAN
 

While walking in the High Peak, Derbyshire after a snow storm, I became mesmerised

by the intricate patterns made by the layers of snow and rivulets of melting ice on the road. These small wintry scenes brought to mind the bigger picture pertaining to global warming and, in particular, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that I'd recently read, which sets out the stark truths about the irreversibility of climate tipping points.

 

Climate tipping points are conditions beyond which changes in a part of the climate system become self-perpetuating. These changes may lead to abrupt, irreversible, and dangerous impacts with serious implications for humanity.  Even the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well below 2°C and preferably 1.5°C is not safe. Currently the world is heading toward -2 to 3°C of global warming.

 

(From a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in the Science Journal 9 Sep 2022 Vol 377, Issue 6611)