Of the many things keeping climate scientists awake at night, tipping points may be the scariest. These thresholds for deep, sometimes catastrophic change in the complex web of Earth's natural forces, caused by man-made global warming, are largely invisible. In the case of ice sheets, how this might happen is well understood. Likewise, rock-like formations in shallow ocean waters called methane hydrates, prime suspects for episodes of rapid global warming millions of years ago. Even so, the promise of holding global warming "well below 2 C" is a reasonable guarantee that such scenarios can be avoided, he said.

Source: Egypt Independent January 19, 2017 10:30 UTC