Paper journalist Liu Dong

Local microphone company.

According to the Financial Associated Press, according to the "Global Tipping Point Report" co-written and released by 160 scientists from 87 institutions in 23 countries, the world has reached its first climate tipping point.

As global warming breaks the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world is rapidly approaching a series of catastrophic critical points, with hot-water coral reef mass deaths being the first significant sign, the report said.This means that humans have entered a new "climate reality" that the stability of several critical systems on Earth is facing unprecedented threats.

A new report jointly completed by 160 international researchers released on October 12 pointed out that most coral reefs around the world are expected to experience severe decline due to the sharp rise in sea temperature. At the same time, scientists warn that the world is also standing on the edge of other key climate critical points, including the degradation of Amazon rainforest, the collapse of major ocean current systems and the disappearance of polar ice sheets.

However, there are different voices in the academic community. Some experts believe that although coral reefs do face decline, it may be too early to say that the entire coral reef system has passed the critical point.

The key support for marine ecology is collapsing.

As the habitat of about a quarter of the world¡¯s known marine species, coral reefs are considered to be one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to global warming.

Corals form a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, but under high temperature stress, these algae leave the coral, causing it to bleach and eventually die. This not only deprives ecosystems of biodiversity, but also threatens hundreds of millions of people who rely on coral reefs for food and tourism revenue.

The second Global Tipping Point Report, led by the University of Exeter in the UK, pointed out that under the influence of global warming, the coral ecosystem on which about one billion people depend is falling into irreversible decline. The report emphasizes, "Unless we can restore the global average surface temperature to less than 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as soon as possible (and eventually to at least 1 degree Celsius), there will be no ecologically significant warm-water coral reefs on the planet."

Professor Tim Renton of the University of Exeter, the main producer of the report, said, "We can no longer regard the critical point as a risk in the future. The first critical point of widespread death of warm-water coral reefs has already begun."

Since January 2023, global coral reefs have experienced the most serious bleaching event on record, with more than 80% of coral reefs in more than 80 countries affected by ocean heat waves. Scientists say the bleaching event has pushed coral reefs into "uncharted territory."

China Academy of Sciences foreign academician, professor of excellence at the University of Qingdao, and climate scientist Chen De Lung told Newsweek that his team¡¯s recent research published in the journal Science confirmed that the record-breaking ocean heatwave in 2023 directly triggered global large-scale coral whitening, while the coral reef crisis has become a key indicator of the unstability of the entire marine ecosystem under the pressure of climate change.

Following a comprehensive analysis of the global ocean heatwave event in 2023, the study found that this record-breaking ocean heatwave set a record in intensity, duration and spatial scope, triggering large-scale coral whitening events, posing a serious and imminent survival threat to the global coral reef ecosystem, pointing out that this could represent a major shift in ocean and atmospheric conditions, and warning that these events could ¡°push ecosystems to irreversible thresholds, leading to coral reef collapse.¡±

Entering the ¡°Dangerous Zone¡±

Despite the difficult situation, some expert professors have expressed different opinions.

Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told The Paper that the fourth global coral bleaching event is currently occurring at an unprecedented frequency and seriously affects the resilience of coral reefs. This should be regarded as a warning to the world.

But he believes it is too early to say that the entire coral reef system has passed the critical point. "Despite the report's harsh language, there are still areas of the world that have more resilient coral reef species. Overall, coral reef systems in the tropics are under tremendous pressure."

For the critical impact of coral reefs, Rockefeller pointed out that more than 200 million people depend on the coral reef system to survive, including fisheries, coastal communities and tourism. The longer-term impact is that the coral reef, as a low-sea high biodiversity system, is the breeding ground for many fish,ining the food network from low-sea to deep-sea. If the coral reef system collapses, it will be replaced by the algae-dominated low-biomass system, its impact on carbon cycle, the functioning of the marine ecosystem is not fully known, there is greater uncertainty, but there are significant risks.

Professor Linton first proposed the concept of the climate critical point in 2008, referring to a series of irreversible changes in the Earth¡¯s ecosystem as the planet warms, which once exceeded would cause irreversible dangerous effects.

In addition to the collapse of global marine coral reefs, these critical points include the permanent melting of Arctic frost, the slowing of crucial marine circulation in the Atlantic, the melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica, the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest and the shift to northern forests, and the monsoon in West Africa and India.

Professor Renton pointed out,"Twenty years ago, we thought that global warming would need to rise by 4 to 5 degrees Celsius to trigger the critical point, but now we think 1 to 2 degrees Celsius would be enough." Since the Industrial Revolution, the earth's temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius, and the United Nations report in October 2024 predicted that global warming could reach 3.1 degrees Celsius by 2100.

Nevertheless, Renton believes the worst-case scenario can be "avoided" with comprehensive emissions reduction measures. The researchers called on countries to take "aggressive action", including promoting new technologies, switching to clean energy and drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Next month, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will be held in Brazil, and the report's authors hope that countries will show the "political courage" needed to respond to the crisis. They emphasized that current policies were insufficient to deal with the scale of these dangerous consequences and often did not even fully consider tipping point risks. Although rich countries have agreed to raise $300 billion a year by 2035, this is still far short of the $1.3 trillion developing countries say they need to deal with climate impacts.

The report emphasizes that only through firm policies and joint efforts of society as a whole can the world get out of the survival crisis facing the Earth system and take advantage of new opportunities for sustainable development.