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Show Notes
What is a climate tipping point, and how do we know when we’re getting close to one? On Episode 3 of Not Cool, Ariel talks to Dr. Tim Lenton, Professor and Chair in Earth System Science and Climate Change at the University of Exeter and Director of the Global Systems Institute. Tim explains the shifting system dynamics that underlie phenomena like glacial retreat and the disruption of monsoons, as well as their consequences. He also discusses how to deal with low certainty/high stakes risks, what types of policies we most need to be implementing, and how humanity’s unique self-awareness impacts our relationship with the Earth.
Topics discussed include:
- Climate tipping points: impacts, warning signals
- Evidence that climate is nearing tipping point?
- IPCC warming targets
- Risk management under uncertainty
- Climate policies
- Human tipping points: social, economic, technological
- The Gaia Hypothesis
References discussed include:
- IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 C
- Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: the gaia hypothesis, Lovelock & Margulis (1973)
- Gaia 2.0, Lenton & Latour (2018)
To have any hope of keeping global warming below two degrees, let alone 1.5 degrees, we're now looking at having to undergo relatively rapid societal transformation. We need to find the good tipping points or the positive tipping points in social, technological, economic systems that are going to get us onto a sustainable, flourishing future.
~ Tim Lenton
