Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’
Posted by wanton_wonton_@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 121 comments
ImHIM_nuffsaid@reddit
I’m 34. I’m just hoping to have a normal ish life until 50. But those chances are looking slimmer and slimmer
Dragonlfw@reddit
I’m 22 and I was hoping I’d at least get until I was thirty. I’m going to miss winters. Guess I’ll move to Antarctica.
More_Vermicelli_8016@reddit
Same :(
lunahazelsteria@reddit
I’m 22 as well. It really sucks
switchsk8r@reddit
22er collapsniks! we should form some hedonistic cult or something
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Early 20s here too. Though I'll pass on hedonism, it's what got us into this in the first place. I'll just live and enjoy my life, contributing to mitigation where I can.
I don't like making 'how long do we have' bets. If I undershoot the timeline and burn up my resources, it will really suck to spend the actual final years under a bridge.
-Calm_Skin-@reddit
Way too wise for 20s.
knight_ranger840@reddit
Yeah that's the thing I hate the most about collapse, not knowing how long we have.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
That's just how it is with or without a collapse scenario. Even if life is perfect, even if everything is fine, no one knows how long they have.
Since I started typing this, at least one person somewhere has already suffered a lethal accident.
Yet, without the looming threat of societal breakdown above our heads, we wouldn't think twice about that.
Try to keep up that habit. Stay informed, live your life, guessing how many years we have won't help anything. For one, because all it does is ruin all the good times you could be having, and for two, because everyone's estimates are biased by their circumstances. Whatever timeline you can conceive, I guarantee you someone thinks it's too generous. Don't bother.
Ok-Elderberry-7088@reddit
I don't know I disagree. I come with a "let's try to survive this" lens though. I think having a proper informed opinion on how long we have left is probably very important. We should be working hard towards that goal regardless, but I think it helps if you have somewhat of a grounded sense of reality on what's happening. Knowing about it helps keep a cool mind and gives a sense of reassurance. I don't really see the point in just enjoying the now knowing there is no future. I'd rather use up all the time we have now to actually make our chances better to survive then just enjoy the now while sacrificing the future.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Perhaps I didn't phrase my thoughts correctly, that's my bad.
I don't suggest hedonism or giving up because it's pointless. That just makes everything worse. I try to not make the problem worse, I carefully limit my own caebon emissions. I'm also learning about my local climate and what I could do here to support the forest I live next to.
I guess everyone has a complicated collapse scenario in their minds, mine is drawn out, miserable, but survivable by many. So I am quite firmly in agreement that there is a future.
I hope I will be among those who make it, but I am staying realistic on how much a 20-something who makes negligible money can do to prepare themselves other than being informed about the state of the world. I can offer time and engineering knowledge on what I know to support mitigation efforts, and that's about it.
I'm by no means calm about it, my mental health will never return to pre-2024 levels. But I am trying to follow my own advice, as obsessing over how many years I might have left to live a normal life will erode the value of that precious time.
I advocate for mental preparation and physical mitigation wherever possible.
solaris_rex@reddit
It's just sad that most of the ones who actually caused this never live to suffer the consequences of over extraction of resources.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
That's the climate system for ya. Simultaneously faster and slower than you'd like
matrixprisoner007@reddit
(escapist) delusions delusions
dreamscapeape@reddit
one ticket to the hedonistic cult, please !
farmingjapan@reddit
isn’t modern capitalist society already a hedonistic cult?
TentacularSneeze@reddit
The only thing capitalism loves is money. Hedonists prefer the love of food and other edible things. 😏
kent18328@reddit
At least a 30 pack.
chrismetalrock@reddit
fun fact: antarctica, the only continent with the word ant in its name is the only continent to not have ants
jackierandomson@reddit
Yet.
PhoenixAsh7117@reddit
34 here as well. 2035 is my guess on when widespread societal collapse becomes in-everybody’s-face obvious. At 44 I probably won’t be as good at surviving post-collapse world as Pedro Pascal, so I probably won’t bother.
MidnightMarmot@reddit
I’m 51. I thought this was all going to happen when I was 80. Faster than expected indeed. Judging by how fast things are speeding up, I think we’ll be lucky to get 10 years.
Big_Examination2106@reddit
Right there with you - we're so fucked, and it's going to happen so fast. I read the deep sea methane is releasing now. From what I understand, that's a level 9000 "we are so fucked" event, which sets up a nasty, nasty, greenhouse cycle. There is no way I'll live to some ripe old age like my parents and their parents; we're fucked and our kids are beyond fucked.
MidnightMarmot@reddit
If you have the article handy would you post? That’s the big one that we worry about and it’s percolating for sure but I’d love for some scientist to give us an SST prediction on when it fails. That event alone happens and it’s over. So scary.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Better, here's the paper.
Though you should probably worry about other climate feedbacks first, those will apparently get to us a lot faster than methane from these seeps.
ObeseNinjaX@reddit
Got any more info on that lvl 9000 greenhouse loop?
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Basically there are lots of giant methane deposits under the seafloor (there are other methane stores as well, but the focus is on these now)
The two things that keep these deposits stable is temperature or pressure. In the deep waters, temperatures are low and pressure is very high, so the deposits are stable. But in the shallow waters near the poles things change up as the planet warms.
Ice sheets retreat, which reduces pressure on the seabed. That leads to more instability on the sea floor and can create new methane plumes in small ground faults. Additionally, as polar waters waem up, they will also warm the frozen methane clathrate deposits and they'll begin to release methane.
Some of the polar methane plumes are very old, but most are new. This happens during ice age termination events. As polar ice recedes, more methane leakes out, and warms the Earth.
About 20 years ago, the clathrate gun hypothesis was born. It stated that a rapid destabilization of these deposits could be the explanation for rapid warming episodes in geologic history, and could happen today too. This sparked a lot of new research into methane deposits, and this rapid destabilization does not seem to fit the observed behavior of these systems.
However, even if it will almost certainly take a long time, it's still a lot of methane, and as a common marker of the end of ice ages, it might push us out of our current icehouse dynamic ss these and new plumes that will form in the future keep leaking gases. The strongest ones identified in Antarctica recently are pushing out ~0.168 grams / square meter / day.
It's a small figure, but as more plumes open up, things will add up to a significant annual amount. Though given that humanity is reaponaible for ~500-600 million tons of methane emissions annually, we will still remain the largest global source of this gas for quite a while.
Kola18_97@reddit
I wouldn't be as worried as anyone would be if it were even possible to create a runaway greenhouse effect as big and bad as what Venus had, but considering there has never been enough fossil fuels on this planet to incite that, it's still pretty bad that methane deposits are being found.
EmMothRa@reddit
51 year old here too......I'm not going to make to retirement am I ?! Was hoping for a least a year off work !!
JonathanApple@reddit
Also 51, I did three months of paid leave last fall and good news is I'm back on leave. Bad news is it is an autoimmune issue. Looking like my last day is in rearview at least.
EmMothRa@reddit
Here with an autoimmune disorder also, still trying to work through it all. It’s looking more like I will be working till it all falls about around us all!!
JonathanApple@reddit
Maybe try to file disability, that is my move at the moment, healthcare for end of world. Good luck.
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
The Republican/Fascist strategy can be seen in your country too. Your right wing media are copying the same tactics as FOX etc.
Keep you poor
Keep you stupid/uninformed
Keep you unhealthy and always too busy
Control your women
also
make them suffer
https://i.redd.it/k35au1kcb6n81.jpg
also
removing women's right to vote via the SAVE act, Only allowing women to have a credit card or any kind of loan if a husband, brother, or father agree to it. Removing women's ability to own property of any kind Removing women from the workforce unless single and with approval of brother or father (married women not allowed to work) and so on... Back to the 19th century.
Looking forward to the " both sides are the same "
EmMothRa@reddit
Ha! Good luck to them trying that in the UK !!! I'm the main wage earner in our family (female) I would certainly have something to say about not being able to control my finances ! I will definitely be the 1st up against the wall if they tried to do a Gilead!!!
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
Excellent! I hope the right wing media do an honest job of exposing Farage/Reform misogyny from now until the next election (~4 years).
Because no one should allow human/women's/worker's/civil rights to diminish.
(I'm sorry 2 people downvoted you, I actually upvoted you immediately in respsonse.)
MidnightMarmot@reddit
Surprising she would get downvoted but that tells me ASSHAT REPUBLICANS are monitoring this sub. I upvoted her.
EmMothRa@reddit
Thank You too 😀
EmMothRa@reddit
Thank You 😀
MidnightMarmot@reddit
Sounds about right. Assholes.
MidnightMarmot@reddit
For me, since I just lost everything with an extended unemployment recently, it’s a big sense of relief. But yeah, there’s no way we get another 20 years, not with the trajectory of the graphs.
ElephantContent8835@reddit
It was 10’years 5 years ago me thinks.
MidnightMarmot@reddit
Yeah, I was trying to be optimistic. If you really ask me, I’ll tell you that I can’t see the polar ice sticking around another 5 years and that will trigger another 1 degree in heat and likely all the other tipping points will fail.
beardfordshire@reddit
40s. Me too
thefocusissharp@reddit
31
The possibility of a normal life ended before we were born. This was in motion decades ago.
IRockIntoMordor@reddit
Aim for 40. Start going through your bucket list now.
yinsotheakuma@reddit
2035 or bust.
I mean, bust either way, but you gotta have some loose expectations for the future.
petered79@reddit
same hope.... safe until 50
I'm 46 🤫
Playongo@reddit
I'm 48 and thinking the same thing.
Archeolops@reddit
same here. Doing my best to live as lavishly as possible and dying out
TuneGlum7903@reddit
Basic facts to understand:
Coral reefs are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. While they cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, healthy coral reefs provide homes to approximately 25% of all known marine species.
The Planet Has Lost Half of Its Coral Reefs Since 1950 — September 2021
“Unless we return to global mean surface temperatures of +1.2°C (and eventually down to at least +1°C) as fast as possible, we will not retain warm-water reefs on our planet at any meaningful scale,” the report says. (https://global-tipping-points.org/)
BECAUSE
Warming Ocean Leaves No Safe Havens for Coral Reefs — February 2022
New research finds coral refugia, where reefs are protected from global warming by cool local currents, are disappearing faster than expected. Even at only 1.5℃ of warming, more than 99 percent of areas previously seen as potentially safe havens for coral will disappear. Warming of +2°C would wipe out all the “reef refugia” where corals might survive.
The end of coral reefs as we know them — May 2024
Years ago, scientists made a devastating prediction about the ocean. Now it’s unfolding.
Several years ago, the world’s top climate scientists made a frightening prediction: If the planet warms by 1.5 degrees Celsius, relative to preindustrial times, 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs globally would die off. At an increase of +2°C, that number jumps to more than 99%
MEANWHILE
Rahmstorf and Foster have smoothed out the natural variability in the different temperature data sets and find an increase of 0.43 degrees centigrade in the global average surface temperature per decade - a major acceleration in the pace of climate change. With 2 degrees being crossed in the mid 2030s, and 2.5 degrees in the late 2040s, and 3 degrees as early as 2054.
So, it seems very likely that we are looking at "coral extinction" over the next 15 years.
Staubsaugerbeutel@reddit
of course, there are dependencies in the food web, but I'd be curious about how much % of total fished mass/nutrition is truly affected by this? while tragic, the number of "species" dying in coral reefs wouldn't directly imply xxx-millions facing severe food insecurity, if the most important species for humans would be among the other 75% and far off coral reefs. dont want to downplay the severity of this, but genuinely curious if there's some food web stats or research elaborating on fishery's dependence on coral reefs.
thedeathllama@reddit
25% of marine species?! Jeez, that's grim.
TuneGlum7903@reddit
Coral reefs are the "rain forests" of the oceans.
thedeathllama@reddit
And at the very minimum 70% of them will die, but likely 90%+. What we've done to this incredible planet is criminal.
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
What Capitalism, Fossil Fuel lobbying and unrestricted Consumerism has done to the planet is criminal.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Yet not too surprising. The oceans are where life began, but land is where you see almost all of it.
The oceans are home to ~16% of known species (though it's anybody's guess how many are undocumented) and just 1% of globall biomass.
Reefs (both coral and sponge reefs are major hubs of biodiversity, they provide food, shelter and breeding grounds for many. And no wonder, since the ocean doesn't have as much safe shelter as land does with all the trees around.
Plane-Breakfast-8817@reddit
Fishermen in SE Asia are already reporting less catch than 10yrs ago. This is going to start decreasing rapidly as they all try to catch more.
So people are already facing hunger, loss of income and are migrating to cities where their problems are compounded. I think we are going to start seeing some substantial issues over the next 5 yrs as fish catches decline, tourism stops as reefs are dead, ports and fishing boats stop working, markets close, food prices escalate.
RItoGeorgia@reddit
so in reality it will probably happen in the next 10 years. It's all falling apart faster than even the grimmest predictions about climate change.
Vayien@reddit
I'm not sure everything projected to occur as a result of dramatic shifts in temperature (and rate of change with limited time for adjustment) will take place in 10 years, but indeed, we may all be rather surprised at how much can change from the present to that otherwise transient (not to be misunderstood as meaningless, if anything perhaps quite the opposite all of a sudden) period of time
Expensive_Future327@reddit
I think this sort of thing is why a growing line of thought among sustainability experts is around resiliency, adaptation, and making the transition into our new reality less abrupt and devastating, rather than hopelessly staving off what feels inevitable at this point.
Pleasant-Winner6311@reddit
But also methan gas leaking from the sea bed of Antarctica. Reported this week. See the Guardian.
UffTaTa123@reddit
We are on the way to Venus 2.0.
At least there is one hope. Humanity will never reach the stars, so the stars are safe.
not_that_guy_at_work@reddit
Probably for the best right now.
Burial@reddit
You just repeated his exact sentiment.
Poltergeist97@reddit
I'm starting to think that the Great Filter is creating enough energy to sustain advanced civilizations without literally cooking themselves alive because of it.
We discovered nuclear power but it hasn't been used as widespread as it should be because of a few preventable accidents. Shame.
DT5105@reddit
And the inconvenient truth that there are 100 active volcanos in Antarctica
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/antarctic-ice-melt-may-fuel-eruptions-of-hidden-volcanoes
ReasonablePossum_@reddit
After seeing the guardian continuous deflection of what's happening in palestine, I really doubt about their reporting. Especially, when they're basically the most "doomer" mainstream outlet out there.
switchsk8r@reddit
100% i've known they were centrist at best but i really hate reading anything from them these days. the methane leak stuff is true but no need to read it from them, you can go to the scientific article itself on this sub.
SuitableSprinkles@reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/climate/s/PbejRaCj1X
KazenoZero0@reddit
At least we can suffer together.
RichieLT@reddit
“ I’m glad you’re here with me , at the end of al things”
wanton_wonton_@reddit (OP)
Well... we did it. According to a report by scientists and conservationists, the earth has reached its first catastrophic tipping point linked to greenhouse gas emissions. Coral reefs are now facing a catastrophic long-term decline, risking the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.
The report also warns the world is also “on the brink” of reaching other tipping points, including the dieback of the Amazon, the collapse of major ocean currents, and the loss of ice sheets.
Sooner than expected, worse than predicted.
errie_tholluxe@reddit
Faster than expected, undersold by governments
iamthewhatt@reddit
Actively repressed by some governments...
errie_tholluxe@reddit
Is repressed and totally disbelieved the same thing?
iamthewhatt@reddit
I feign to use "disbelief" because you cannot know the true intentions when it comes to politicians who are for-profit. Kinda like how they don't "believe" in vaccines, but they and their families are always current on their shots.
errie_tholluxe@reddit
Fair enough
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
Climate Activists are actively Othered by right wing media - dog whistles, hostility, intimidation, harassment marginalisation, reporting bias, discrimination, stereotyping, silencing, dehumanisation, demonisation, humiliation, persecution, exclusion, calling for punishment and praising false imprisonment, stochastic terrorism.
https://v.redd.it/gatfgxxlrqk91
It has been part of the right wing media's ruthless campaign of preselected agenda, pro Big Oil bias, Climate Denial, Climate Big Lies, goal shifting, obfuscation, projection, gaslighting, weaponised ignorance, irrationalism and antiintellectualism, manufactured outrage, false equivalence, trolling, performative contrarian scepticism etc etc.
https://v.redd.it/nqs0645qlii91
When you notice several Othering tactics used with each other, alongside Big Lies then you can be sure you're looking at Fascist Media.
Climate Denial is one the greatest Fascist Big Lies and the majority of ppl aren't even aware of any danger.
yinsotheakuma@reddit
I don't want to be the "my local politics I don't like is a global issue," but as soon as the US elected Facebook Meme Grandpa, we committed to huffing our own farts until we die and, sadly, that had awful implications for the rest of the world.
We were leaders in the mediocre flailing against climate change, but that's when we quit pretending to even try.
BrightCandle@reddit
The USA has been against doing anything about climate change for over 3 decades, this didn't start recently. The USA collapsed the negotiations at Kyoto in 1992.
keyser1981@reddit
Just watched Ocean with David Attenborough and it was a moving film. It's.... amazing that we really don't know what we have till it's gone. I've never even seen coral reefs in the wild. 😭
RItoGeorgia@reddit
Never heard of this, I will be watching it, thank you.
RichieLT@reddit
I saw it in cinema, was brilliant and eye opening. That scene with the trawler was horrific.
RItoGeorgia@reddit
Literally watching this scene right now, absolutely disgusting to watch. the love of money is truly the root of all evil.
keyser1981@reddit
The music was jarring during that segment. It sounded like wailing, crying, screaming, in the background, anyone else catch that?
wanton_wonton_@reddit (OP)
They reportedly cut a lot of footage from that film because it was too confronting.
thefocusissharp@reddit
Weak and sad. Then again, is the human race really ready to be enlightened to the knowledge of their own extinction? I think once that comes to light, it will accelerate.
Velocilobstar@reddit
They shouldn’t have. Nobody even knows about it it seems
RIPFauna_itwasgreat@reddit
You should also watch the documentary Home . Made in 2009
No_Foundation16@reddit
The clock is for sure ticking down to the death of human civilization and the total destruction of the environment. 2100 max is my optimistic guess.
mrblahblahblah@reddit
I've seen it first hand
and by flying i know i exacerbate the problem
i saw a coral reef off of phu quoc that was so perfect, wiped out by one " warming event"
it was called the coral garden and should be renamed heartbreak
I also saw some reefs off of the gilli islands in Indonesia and within one year they were bleached
i told the boat captain to start finding another job
it breaks my heart that the young will never realize what they lost
GZoST@reddit
Of course the coral reefs are dying off. What were people expecting? That the seas get cooler again?
If there have been any good news on the climate catastrophe in recent years then I must have missed it. It is basically all "We took a closer look at this part of how the earth's climate works. Oops, turns out things are worse than we previously though.". We are losing natural carbon sinks and gaining natural climate gas sources, reducing what we have, inadvertently, done to reduce warming, all while human-made emissions are not going to drop for the next few years at least.
Rossdxvx@reddit
I saw this article buried underneath an article about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner this morning. Apparently, the end of the world plays second fiddle to the bread and circuses of celebrity gossip, which is more important to the average person.
Minute_Can5040@reddit
This is terrifying — the planet’s first climate tipping point is in our lifetime. Losing coral reefs means losing entire ecosystems, coastal protection, and millions of livelihoods. We need urgent action, not excuses.
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Flokismom@reddit
Man. why is every day a tragedy? I swear im sick of waking up to one more thing to worry about.
RIPFauna_itwasgreat@reddit
I've grown tired of this. We need to face reality and stop being positive about this kind of stuff. That is not working at all and it will never work if our collective consciousness doesn't grow with our ever expanding technology. If this tactic would work, being positive and assume best case scenario, then we would have already done something. People still think we have enough time to mitigate this and be a thriving species
Nothing will be done as long as we sugarcoat all the bad news. We are facing a global extinction of many species including us as we are on the top of the food chain.
We need to do something now or preferably 40 years ago
Far_Out_6and_2@reddit
All of the tipping points have all been surpassed already we are just now seeing it in real time
pheremonal@reddit
Stupid question: can we "move" the coral reefs? I.e., cultivate coral in different areas of the ocean such as further north in Canada?
ShyElf@reddit
The warmest reefs don't seem to be doing as badly, so far. They speculate that may have been one of the few areas warmer water species survived glaciation.
Colder water reefs in Australia got very badly hammered this year, despite temperatures being not crazy extreme for the area. It seems to have been a rolling ecosystem collapse involving toxic algae, rather than just the temperature.
Certainly they can try to grow farther away from the Equator, but you run into dropping cold season temperatures and everything still gets hit by acidification, and the ecosystem can still shift to toxic algae everywhere.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
Another possibility I've seen floating around is replacing coral reefs with sponge reefs, which can apparently even use the corals to grow onto them.
I haven't looked too deeply into this possibility yet, but it is interesting
Either-Patience1182@reddit
There are people working on growing corals in different locations of making them a little more heat tolerant. we will see those results in the coming years whether they be good or bad
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
You can, but their entire surrounding ecosystem has to go with them if you want to preserve the role they play in the oceans.
arkH3@reddit
You'd have to move the whole ecosystems. The value of the reefs is that they are a natural habitat for lots of species, which in sum also create some ecosystem services (make the ocean function the way it has, which contributes to a stable biosphere habitable by humans, among others). So unless you can transplant the whole functioning ecosystem, with all the species and conditions they like, moving the corals alone is pointless.
UffTaTa123@reddit
yeah. And if you say that corall is diying, the fossil fuel idiots come with a outdated report from 5 years ago about a temp. regrowth or coralls that "proove" that it's all fake.
They are idiots. You knew that you are surrounded by idiots. And idiots are on the rise and will make idiotic things that harm everybody.
Logical-Race8871@reddit
The scale of this is just wild. The reefs are so dense with life.
Imagine 100,000 square miles of pigs being killed.
For reference, if you're on a boat on the ocean, you can only see 24 square miles around you before the earth curves away below the horizon.
100,000 square miles of pigs being killed.
MissMelines@reddit
that is happening, easily all the time. Annually, worldwide about 150billion land animals are killed for food. EVERY YEAR. PER YEAR. Imagine how many sq miles did they occupy? Even being crammed into spaces too small for them to breathe.
digiorno@reddit
Did some oil executives get bigger bonuses? Did people get to eat steak and drink milk regularly? Well then it was all worth it. /s
VenusbyTuesdayTV@reddit
1.5C corals dying - as predicted.
Finally not a faster than expected.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
I am surprised they made it to the upper boundary of the prediction.
Slamtilt_Windmills@reddit
From the article: But some experts have questioned the report’s claims about the fate of coral reefs, with one saying while they are in decline there is evidence they could remain viable at higher temperatures than suggested.
I have questions about how somebody can be an expert on this, see the data, and say "you dont know that it won't be fine"
melody_magical@reddit
Bioengineering offers a glimmer of hope is probably my guess
420Aquarist@reddit
Yes meddling with things is going to help, it’s not like it’s what got us here in the first place. 100% hopium.
you_dont_ubderstsnd@reddit
Scientists don't exist without funding.
Supporting capital gets funding.
I know scientists who spruke their work as helping fight climate change, and they tell me they're just lying.
Arceuthobium@reddit
Some people, even scientists, prefer to keep their head buried in the sand because the alternative is too terrifying to ponder. Another big issue is funding: this is why scientists working in biology, ecology, climate and sustainability are careful not to publish too many "doomer" articles and to always put a "positive" spin to them.
Vorobye@reddit
"Some experts" followed by "with one saying".
One being key here. Will some corals be able to withstand the 6th mass extinction as a suspended, gelatinous form? We won't be around to tell. But at least one guy thinks they will so there is still hope, I guess.
Plane-Breakfast-8817@reddit
This exact situation has been worrying me for a while. If the coral bleaching event continues (and there's no reason to think it's going to stop) we could lose 90% of reefs by 2030. That means the fisheries collapse, millions of people losing their jobs, income and source of protein.
And this is actually taking place now. It's happening. It's not some distant problem. It's started and is going to continue to get worse as people get hungry. They will continue migrating to local cites in greater numbers, and the knock on effects of that are going to bring chaos to SE Asia, Africa, etc. It's extremely alarming.
NyriasNeo@reddit
"Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’"
We already passed 1.5C and blew through 2C briefly. In a world where "drill baby drill" won, is anyone gullible enough to believe we can reduce warming to 1.2C. Heck, even if we want to, which we obviously do not, how? Don't tell me we can take co2 out of the atmosphere at scale.
Plus, I doubt most people will care some coral in far away places when heat wave, floods, hurricanes and wild fires which killed people did not move them to climate action.
Pinkie-Pie73@reddit
"...with some reefs remaining viable even at 2C of global heating."
Who's gonna tell him?
Bandits101@reddit
Our oceans are the key to our future troubles on many levels. Immediate warnings are warming, acidification, currents altering and waning, coral reef die off and fisheries extinction.
Likely future events include bottom of food chain extinction (planktons), algae blooms and large scale anoxic events. If the oceans, even if localized turn anoxic it’s definitely game over.
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/wanton_wonton_:
Well... we did it. According to a report by scientists and conservationists, the earth has reached its first catastrophic tipping point linked to greenhouse gas emissions. Coral reefs are now facing a catastrophic long-term decline, risking the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.
The report also warns the world is “on the brink” of reaching other tipping points, including the dieback of the Amazon, the collapse of major ocean currents, and the loss of ice sheets.
Faster than expected, worse than predicted.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1o56nda/planets_first_catastrophic_climate_tipping_point/nj7aagg/