Merriam-Webster defines a tipping point as:
The critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place.
An example is when a microphone and amplifier start experiencing positive feedback, and the slightest noise sets off an ear-splitting howl.
I frequently write about the primary, secondary and higher-order effects of climate change. Within the matrices of these effects are numerous tipping points, and therein lies extreme danger. Since the world’s climate is a huge system, the effects of positive feedback don’t happen within seconds as with the above example, but decades to centuries. This means we don’t completely understand that we’ve passed these points until it is too late to easily fix them.
Our (the world’s) society also experiences tipping points though major attitude adjustments, and these are needed to address our climate’s tipping points.
This post is about recently identified and characterized tipping points in our attitude and climate.