Facts About Climate Change

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The Heritage InstituteEducating for Humanity & the World we Want

www.hol.edu

CLIMATE TIPPING POINTSIn the Anthrocene Period

A group of macro climatic conditions that

hold the fate of life on the planet as

we know it.

Climate experts from around the world have identified a series ofglobal-warming tipping points, any one of which, if triggered,

will likely initiate sudden, catastrophic changes across the planet.

Odds are you've never heard of most of these tipping points, even though your entire genetic legacy—your children, your grandchildren, and beyond—may or may not survive depending on their status.

THE

TIPPING POINTS& How Long TheyWill Take To Tip at Current Rates

1 Melting of Arctic Sea-Ice (approx 10 yrs)2 Decay of the Greenland Ice Sheet (more than 300 yrs)

3 Collapse of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (more than 300 yrs)

4 Collapse of the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (approx 100 yrs)

5 Increase in the El Nino Southern Oscillation(approx 100 yrs)

6 Collapse of the Indian Summer Monsoon (approx 1 yr)

7 Greening of the Sahara/Sahel and disruption of the West African Monsoon (approx 10 yrs)

8 Dieback of the Amazon rainforest (approx 50 yrs)

9 Dieback of the Boreal forest (approx 50 yrs)

VERY SENSITIVETO ALREADY-HAPPENING CLIMATE CHANGE

Greenland Ice Sheet. In a worst-case scenario, even slightly warmer temperatures will

melt the ice, possibly causing the ice sheet to disappear during thenext 300 years. Global sea levels would rise by over 20 feet.

VERY SENSITIVETO ALREADY-HAPPENING CLIMATE CHANGE

ice. We may have hit this point already.

Arctic Sea Ice. As sea ice melts, the dark ocean surfaced will be exposed,

absorbing solar energy and accelerating the melt. Good-bye, sea

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

West Antarctic Ice Sheet. If global temperatures rise, the ice sheet will melt, finally collapsing and raising sea levels

by 15 feet in the next 300 years.

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

terrestrial carbon sinks.

Boreal Forest. If northern forests can’t handle the heat, they’ll

die, taking away one of Earth’s primary

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

Amazon Rainforest. Deforestation and climate change will probably reduce Amazonian rainfall, causing the rain forests to dry up

and shrink. There goes another carbon sink.

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Different temperatures in different Pacific water layers interact with varying equatorial temperatures to produce the global weather patterns known as El Niño and La Niña. If

ENSO is disrupted, the El Niño aspect will become more pronounced, leading toharsher droughts in some places and

flooding in others.

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

Sahara/Sahel- and West African Monsoon. A warming Atlantic could make the monsoons dry

up or become even more severe. Or both,depending on the year.

SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE

Indian Summer Monsoon. Warmer air carries more water; see previous

tipping point for consequences.

NOT SO SENSITIVE

Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation. Atlantic ocean circulation is driven by seawater cooling and sinking in the North Atlantic. If fresh water is added from warming glaciers, or seawater

warms, then the cooling-and-sinking cycle could stop, causing North Atlantic sea levels to rise and a shift in tropical rainfalls.

TIPPING ELEMENT CHART& KEY IMPACTS

WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

While most Americans are moderately concerned about global warming, the majority—68%—believe the greatest threats are to people far away or to nonhuman nature. Only 13% perceive any real risk to themselves, their families, or their communities.

As long as this dangerous misconception prevails, the chances of preventing these points from tipping are virtually nil.

This perception is critical, since Americans constitute only 5% of the global population yet produce nearly 25% of the global carbon dioxide emissions.

WHAT WILL IT TAKETO TRIGGER THE ULTIMATE TIPPING POINT?

How can we create a shift in human perception from personal denial to personal

responsibility?

THE TRUTH ISWE CAN CHANGE WITH BREATH TAKING SPEED!

The 18th-century taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus named usHomo sapiens, from the Latin wordsmeaning "prudent & wise.”

HISTORY SHOWS WE ARE NOT BORN WITH WISDOM.WE EVOLVE INTO IT.

40 years ago many people believed human nature required blacks and whites to live in segregation.

30 years ago human nature divided men and women into separate economies.

20 years ago human nature prevented us from defusing a global nuclear standoff.

Nowadays we blame human nature for the insolvable hazards of global warming.