Many of Earth's climate systems will undergo a series of sudden shifts this century as a result of human-induced climate change, a study suggests. A number of these shifts could occur this century, say the report authors, BBC reported.
They argue that society should not be lulled into a false sense of security by the idea that climate change will be a gradual process. The work by an international team appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
"Our findings suggest that a variety of tipping elements could reach their critical point within this century under human-induced climate change," said Professor Tim Lenton from the University of East Anglia, the lead researcher on the study.
"The greatest threats are tipping of the Arctic sea-ice and the Greenland ice sheet, and at least five other elements could surprise us by exhibiting a nearby tipping point." The bulk of climate scientists now believe that human induced global warming has begun to affect some aspects of our climate.