23 February 202115:49

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-the-threat-of-high-probability-ocean-tipping-points

DR HELENA MARTINS

23.02.2021 | 3:49pmGUEST POSTSGuest post: The threat of high-probability ocean ‘tipping points’

This guest post is by:

Dr Helena Martins, science communicator in theRossby Centreat theSwedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.

Climate change is profoundly altering our oceans and marine ecosystems. Some of these changes are happening quickly and are potentially irreversible. Many are taking place silently and unnoticed.

In recent years,tipping points– thresholds where a small change could push a system into a completely new state – have increasingly become a focus for the climate research community.

However, these are typically thought of in terms of unlikely changes with huge global ramifications – often referred to as “low probability, high impact” events. Examples include theslowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulationand the rapiddisintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet.

In…