Johan Rockström warns warming is pushing major ecosystems towards tipping points
Speaking in London on 20 October, the climate scientist warned of potentially irreversible damage to coral reefs and the Amazon rainforest and urged businesses to protect nature alongside cutting emissions.
Johan Rockström warned at the Reuters Sustainability Europe conference in London on 20 October that accelerating global warming is bringing coral reefs, the Amazon rainforest and parts of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system closer to potentially irreversible change, Reuters reported. The warning puts risks to ecosystems and the climate system alongside the pressure to cut fossil fuel emissions.
Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, attributed the acceleration in warming to fossil fuel emissions. He said damage to coral reefs and the Amazon rainforest was close to becoming irreversible. His assessment was a warning about proximity to a threshold, rather than a report that either ecosystem had already crossed it.
Atlantic circulation and the 1.5°C threshold
He also warned that parts of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system were close to collapse. Those parts include a current that carries warm water from the Caribbean and helps moderate Western Europe’s climate. A disruption would therefore matter beyond the ocean itself, although the report gave no date for a possible collapse.
Rockström said the latest science points to global average surface temperature rising more than 1.5°C above the reference level in the next few years. He linked further warming to more frequent and intense extreme weather ahead of the United Nations COP31 climate talks, which are due to begin on 9 November. He did not give a specific year for crossing the threshold.
What Rockström urged businesses to do
For companies preparing their operations, Rockström called for climate and nature to be treated as one integrated agenda. Alongside efforts to decarbonise, he urged investment in preserving nature, particularly projects that maintain or rebuild biodiversity and freshwater reserves. The advice connects emissions cuts with the condition of the natural systems on which businesses depend.
He criticised lobbying to ease rules for phasing out vehicles with internal combustion engines, calling it ‘incredibly disturbing’. Rockström also said subsidies for petrol and diesel were undermining consumer demand for electric vehicles. Those policy concerns formed part of his argument that the response to warming must extend beyond companies’ own operations.
The Potsdam Institute identifies Rockström as a professor of Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam as well as its director. Its profile says he led development of the Planetary Boundaries framework and works on Earth system tipping points, the research area behind his warning about changes that may become difficult to reverse.
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Sources and context
- Accelerating warming pushes vital ecosystems towards point of no return, scientist warnsThe Straits Times (Reuters report)
- Professor Dr. Johan RockströmPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.