Overview
- Authored by about 160 scientists led by the University of Exeter with partners including PIK, the Global Tipping Points Report was released one month before COP30 in Brazil.
- Record marine heat since 2023 drove a fourth global bleaching that hit more than 80% of reefs as global warming nears 1.4°C, with the report putting the collapse risk above 99% on current trajectories.
- The authors warn other tipping elements are near thresholds, including the Atlantic overturning circulation, the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and the Amazon rainforest, raising the risk of cascading impacts.
- The loss of reefs threatens biodiversity that supports roughly a quarter of marine species and jeopardizes food, income, and coastal protection for up to about one billion people.
- The report urges immediate deep emissions cuts, stronger global governance, and scaled carbon removal while leveraging positive tipping trends in solar and wind power, electric vehicles, batteries, and heat pumps.