‘New reality’ as world reaches first climate tipping point - University of Exeter

• Widespread mortality of warm-water coral reefs under way, as world reaches first tipping point
• With global warming set to breach 1.5°C, world dangerously close to further catastrophic tipping points
• These include melting ice sheets, Amazon rainforest dieback and collapse of vital ocean currents
• Tipping points pose a new type of threat that current international structures and agreements are not designed to counter
• Key to averting catastrophe is to act urgently, by supporting societal transformation and triggering ‘positive tipping points’ such as the self-propelling rollout of green technologies

The world faces a “new reality” as we have reached the first of many Earth system tipping points that will cause catastrophic harm unless humanity takes urgent action, according to a landmark report released today (13 Oct) by the University of Exeter and international partners.

With ministers gathering today ahead of the COP30 summit, the second Global Tipping Points Report finds that warm-water coral reefs – on which nearly a billion people and a quarter of all marine life depend – are passing their tipping point. Widespread dieback is taking place and – unless global warming is reversed – extensive reefs as we know them will be lost, although small refuges may survive and must be protected.