Climate tipping point interactions and cascades: a review

26 January 2024

This paper maps out the state-of-the-art literature on interactions between tipping elements relevant for current global warming pathways. The authors find indications that many of the interactions between tipping elements are destabilizing. This means that tipping cascades cannot be ruled out on centennial to millennial timescales at global warming levels between 1.5 and 2.0 °C or on shorter timescales if global warming surpasses 2.0 °C.

The press release by PIK Potsdam can be found at: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/destabilising-interactions-in-the-earth-system-how-climate-tipping-elements-interact

The press release by Utrecht University can be found at: https://www.uu.nl/en/news/destabilising-interactions-in-the-climate-system-how-tipping-elements-interact

Nico Wunderling, Anna S. von der Heydt, Yevgeny Aksenov, Stephen Barker, Robbin Bastiaansen, Victor Brovkin, Maura Brunetti, Victor Couplet, Thomas Kleinen, Caroline H. Lear, Johannes Lohmann, Rosa Maria Roman-Cuesta, Sacha Sinet, Didier Swingedouw, Ricarda Winkelmann, Pallavi Anand, Jonathan Barichivich, Sebastian Bathiany, Mara Baudena, John T. Bruun, Cristiano M. Chiessi, Helen K. Coxall, David Docquier, Jonathan F. Donges, Swinda K. J. Falkena, Ann Kristin Klose, David Obura, Juan Rocha, Stefanie Rynders, Norman Julius Steinert, and Matteo Willeit

Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 41–74, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-41-2024, 2024

Contact: Nico Wunderling (nico.wunderling@pik-potsdam.de) and Anna S. von der Heydt (a.s.vonderheydt@uu.nl)