Climate scientist warns Earth's tipping points approaching collapse

Climate scientist Levent Kurnaz has issued a stark warning that global warming is pushing Earth's crucial environmental systems toward irreversible tipping points that could trigger catastrophic climate changes. The director of Boğaziçi University's Center for Climate Change and Policy Research emphasized that rising atmospheric temperatures are lowering critical thresholds for collapse across multiple planetary systems.

Critical Systems at Risk

Kurnaz highlighted particular concern about Greenland's ice sheet, noting that while ocean currents currently maintain cooler temperatures there, "if it begins to warm, the heating of Greenland will accelerate rapidly and the ice sheet could collapse." His assessment follows the Global Tipping Points Report 2025, a comprehensive international study involving 160 researchers from 23 countries that identifies escalating threats to coral reefs, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and the Amazon rainforest.

Specific Temperature Thresholds

The climate expert detailed specific catastrophic thresholds, noting that coral reefs could disappear completely at current warming levels around 1.5°C. Should global temperatures reach 3°C, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could collapse, potentially raising sea levels by approximately seven meters. Kurnaz also expressed concern about the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), warning that this crucial ocean current system "has already started to weaken" and might collapse at warming levels between 2°C and 2.5°C.

Irreversible Consequences and Regional Impact

Kurnaz emphasized the cascading nature of these environmental collapses, noting that "all these processes can reinforce each other, leading to faster and more severe tipping point events than expected." He warned of irreversible consequences including disrupted air circulation patterns, extreme weather events, severe water shortages, and potential mass migration from South Asia toward regions including Türkiye, requiring complete fossil fuel phaseout to prevent the most catastrophic scenarios.