Scientists to spend £millions on Arctic-related climate ‘tipping points’ studies – despite earlier research criticising use of the term 

Credit: researchgate.net

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Needless to say this five-year effort with ’27 international research teams’ will involve ‘improving models’. But quoting from a recent article featured at the Talkshop – Scientists question use of ‘tipping point’ metaphor in climate change discussions: they doubted ‘the accuracy and utility of the metaphor “tipping point” in calling attention to the threat of climate change’. Furthermore: ‘There also is no evidence, they said, that the apocalyptic tone of the phrasing is driving action.’ And: ‘“Attempts to subsume so many issues and behaviors under the same label and common interpretive framework do not advance science,” said co-author Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University’. But the notion of an AMOC tipping point is a recurring climate alarmist favourite, as a quote in the article below suggests: “Some computer models predict that large changes in the Atlantic Ocean could happen as soon as the 2040s so this is a key moment for us to investigate this Greenland Ice Sheet tipping point.” They don’t intend to let the idea go, preferring to spend millions on trying to revive or update it.
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British Antarctic Survey (BAS) researchers have been selected for funding from The Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to help improve our understanding of climate tipping points. (Source: BAS).

These tipping points are critical thresholds in the climate system that, if crossed, could lead to drastic and irreversible changes, such as widespread flooding, biodiversity loss, and threats to food security in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

The funding is part of ARIA’s Forecasting Tipping Points programme, which aims to develop an early warning system for these climate shifts.

This five-year initiative, backed by £81 million, brings together 27 international research teams to detect early warning signs of tipping points.

Climate tipping points have the potential to impact billions of people worldwide. If, for example, the Greenland Ice Sheet reaches a tipping point and collapses, it could significantly alter ocean currents and increase sea levels, leading to more frequent and severe flooding events.

Currently, even our most advanced climate models struggle to predict exactly when such tipping points will occur or what their full consequences will be. [Talkshop comment – supposing they really exist outside of models].

To address this challenge, the programme will focus on three key areas:

— Developing sensing systems to monitor the ocean and frozen regions (cryosphere).
— Deploying these systems in critical locations, including the Greenland Ice Sheet and North Atlantic.
— Improving computational models to better predict tipping points and their consequences.

Full article here.
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Image credit: researchgate.net
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ARIA’s Forecasting Tipping Points programme:
Backed by £81m, this programme aims to enhance our climate change response by developing an early warning system for tipping points.

Our goal: To create an early warning system for tipping points that equips the world with the information we need to build resilience and accelerate proactive climate adaptation.
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ARIA: Towards an early warning system for climate
tipping points – Programme thesis (21 pages).