Tipping Points Triggered Past Extreme Climate Warming, Study Shows.
New research shows that tipping points triggered three periods of extreme warming in Earth's history, caused by the destabilization of carbon reservoirs and the release of greenhouse gases. The study suggests that the sturdiness of the climate system decreased leading up to these phases of extreme warming, indicating the amplifying effects of tipping points. While the researchers couldn't pinpoint the carbon reservoir that became unstable, they caution that it is important to figure out how these historic global warming events occurred to understand how the Earth system will ultimately react.