Planet Earth at tipping point of becoming ‘Hothouse Earth’: Study

The Straitstimes, Singapore: The world is at risk of entering“hothouse” conditions where global average temperatures will be 4-5 deg C higher even if emissions reduction targets under a global climate deal are met, scientists said in a study .
The report comes amid a heatwave that has pushed temperatures above 40 deg C (104 Fahrenheit) in Europe and many parts of Asia this summer, causing drought and wildfires, including blazes in Greece in July that killed 91 people.
Around 200 countries agreed in 2015 to limit temperature rise to “well below” 2 deg C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels, a threshold believed to be a tipping point for the climate.However, it is not clear whether the world’s climate can be safely “parked” near 2 deg C above pre-industrial levels or whether this might trigger other processes which drive further warming even if the world stops emitting greenhouse gases, the research said.
Scientists from the Stockholm Resilience Center, the University of Copenhagen, Australian National University and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said it is likely that if a critical threshold is crossed, several tipping points will lead to abrupt change.
Such processes include permafrost thaw; the loss of methane hydrates from the ocean floor; weaker land and ocean carbon sinks; the loss of Arctic summer sea ice and the reduction of Antarctic sea ice and polar ice sheets.