Planet may be sensitive to global warming

Both the Amazon rainforest and the Tibetan plateau are tipping elements, i.e. those parts of the planet that are sensitive to global warming and can change abruptly from one state to another at certain thresholds. Deforestation, road building and warming are already impacting the Amazon rainforest today and are likely to do so even more in the future. While the Amazon itself is an important element of the Earth system, the question is to what extent changes to the Amazon rainforest may affect other parts of the world.

Analysis of air temperature over 40 years

To get to the bottom of this question, the researchers analyzed changes in near-surface air temperature in a grid of more than 65,000 sub-regions with data from the last 40 years. The result: a so-called teleconnection between the tipping elements could be clearly identified and quantified - with worrying, far-reaching results. The research confirms that the tipping elements of the Earth system are indeed connected to each other, even over long distances. The researchers were able to identify a clear course over more than 20,000 kilometers - from South America to southern Africa to the Middle East and finally to the Tibetan Plateau. The researchers were also able to identify several interactions: When it gets warmer in the Amazon, it also gets warmer in Tibet. And if it rains more in the Amazon region, less snow falls in Tibet.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The new research result underlines the fact that linked tipping elements in the Earth system can influence each other, with potentially serious consequences. According to the researchers, it is unlikely that the climate system as a whole will tilt, but subcontinental tipping events can severely affect entire societies over time and threaten important parts of the biosphere. This is a risk that must be avoided, for example by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Source:

Potsdam Institute for climate impact research