Is the planet's atmosphere like a boilling pot of stuff and are the Earth's possible states like two valleys connected by a hill? Welcome to an [Infospill] episode of weird metaphores trying to grasp the horrible truths of climate tipping points. "Grim" is our key word but do not despair! We still have a choice for which future we want. As an [Offering], we present to you the idea of the Climate Cafe - a space in which to discuss all the climate feels you might have.

Timestamps

00:33 [Infospill] The climate tipping points we trigger as the planet warms

30:03 [Offering] Climate Cafe: the place to breath climate-anxiety away

[Infospill] The climate tipping points we trigger as the planet warms

Climate tipping elements are subsystems that act like they have a mind of their own after crossing a certain threshold, continuing to unfold even if we cut emissions. As we cross 1.5°C in the following years, some elements will already be triggered (coral reef die-off, ice sheets melting); 3°C might trigger most of them (AMOC collapse, Amazon die-back etc). Not all will bring additional warming, but all will have an extreme impact on regional weather and potentially push the climate towards runaway warming.

[Offering] Climate Cafe: the place to breath climate-anxiety away

Climate Cafes are meant to be a quiet, reflective experience in which to process your feelings towards climate chaos with others like you. They are not designed to lead people to conclusions or action, not are they spaces of therapy. Anyone can lead one, and everyone can participate in making the space safe. Have you been to one, or started one? Tell us in the comments on Instagram or Facebook!

Resources:

Main reference:

McKay et al. "Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points." Science, 377 (2022), url: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.abn7950

*Note: in the ep. we talk about the figure on pg.1 (summary) and about Table 1.

Further reading/listening:

Lenton et al. "Climate tipping points - too risky to bet against". Nature, 575 (2019) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0

Lenton et al. "Global tipping points report 2025"; showing we have already crossed the tipping point for warm-water coral reef die-back. https://global-tipping-points.org/

Rockstrom. The Tipping Points of Climate Change - and Where We Stand (2024) https://youtu.be/Vl6VhCAeEfQ

Watts. " "We are perilously close to the point of no return": climate scientist on Amazon rainforest's future", The Guardian (2025). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/jun/26/tippping-points-amazon-rainforest-climate-scientist-carlos-nobre

Wunderling et al. "Climate tipping point interactions and cascades: a review." Earth System Dynamics, 15 (2024) https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/15/41/2024/esd-15-41-2024.html

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Hosted & Edited by: Robi and M.

Sound engineering by: Marius

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Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

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