Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Accelerated Warming Hurtles Humanity Closer and Closer to a Hothouse Earth via Cascading Feedbacks
A new science journal paper was just published arguing that humanity is hurtling towards a hothouse Earth from which we will experience chaos and turmoil and possible extinction.
I chat about the details of this paper, and the various cascading feedbacks that can drive us to much warmer temperatures if the present day accelerated warming continues much longer and crosses tipping point thresholds.
Hold onto your hats...
I often talk about a "three-legged-barstool" approach to fighting climate change.
Leg 1: slashing fossil fuel emissions
Leg 2: directly removing carbon dioxide (CDR - Carbon Dioxide Removal) and other GHGs from the atmosphere
Leg 3: actively cooling the planet via SRM (Solar Radiation Management)
Note that this new paper does not even consider, let alone take a position (basically ignores) Leg 3 which I say is vital to implement as soon as possible, to give us (humanity) any hope at all.
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Year end - Year start GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-...
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
References and links:
Yale Environment 360 article: Scientists See Growing Risk of ‘Hothouse Earth’ as Warming Gains Pace
Warming is accelerating, threatening a cascade of tipping points that destabilize the climate. In a new paper, scientists say the risk of “hothouse Earth” is greater than once believed.
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/hothouse-earth-study
Article in the Conversation: Earth is already shooting through the 1.5°C global warming limit, two major studies show
theconversation.com/earth-is-already-shooting-through-the-1-5-c-global-warming-limit-two-major-studies-show-249133
Yale Environment 360 article: Why We Won’t Know When We’ve Passed the 1.5-Degree Threshold
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/1.5-degrees-scientific-consensus
Yale Environment 360 article: African Forests Have Become a Source of Carbon Emissions
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/african-forests-carbon-source
Yale Environment 360 article: Overshoot: The World Is Hitting Point of No Return on Climate:
With warming set to pass the critical 1.5-degree limit, scientists are warning that the world is on course to trigger tipping points that would lead to cascading consequences — from the melting of ice sheets to the death of the Amazon rainforest — that could not be reversed.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/1.5-degrees-tipping-points
One Earth scientific paper:
The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory
William J. Ripple1,2,10 ∙ Christopher Wolf3,10 chrisgraywolf@gmail.com ∙ Johan Rockström4 ∙ Katherine Richardson5 ∙ Nico Wunderling4,6,9 ∙ Jillian W. Gregg3 ∙ Thomas Westerhold7 ∙ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber8
Abstract
Earth’s climate is now departing from the stable conditions that supported human civilization for millennia. Crossing critical temperature thresholds may trigger self-reinforcing feedbacks and tipping dynamics that amplify warming and destabilize distant Earth system components. Uncertain tipping thresholds make precaution essential, as crossing them could commit the planet to a hothouse trajectory with long-lasting and potentially irreversible consequences.
Link: cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(25)00391-4
Direct link to pdf of Ripple paper: cell.com/one-earth/pdfExtended/S2590-3322(25)00391-4
Image of Geologic Time Scales: https://trenton.mcz.harvard.edu/geologic-time-scale
Great image showing temperature of planet Earth going back 542 million years:
muchadoaboutclimate.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/blog4_temp.png
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Year end - Year start GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-...
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
Accelerated Warming Hurtles Humanity Closer and Closer to a Hothouse Earth via Cascading Feedbacks
A new science journal paper was just published arguing that humanity is hurtling towards a hothouse Earth from which we will experience chaos and turmoil and possible extinction.
I chat about the details of this paper, and the various cascading feedbacks that can drive us to much warmer temperatures if the present day accelerated warming continues much longer and crosses tipping point thresholds.
Hold onto your hats...
I often talk about a "three-legged-barstool" approach to fighting climate change.
Leg 1: slashing fossil fuel emissions
Leg 2: directly removing carbon dioxide (CDR - Carbon Dioxide Removal) and other GHGs from the atmosphere
Leg 3: actively cooling the planet via SRM (Solar Radiation Management)
Note that this new paper does not even consider, let alone take a position (basically ignores) Leg 3 which I say is vital to implement as soon as possible, to give us (humanity) any hope at all.
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Year end - Year start GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-...
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
References and links:
Yale Environment 360 article: Scientists See Growing Risk of ‘Hothouse Earth’ as Warming Gains Pace
Warming is accelerating, threatening a cascade of tipping points that destabilize the climate. In a new paper, scientists say the risk of “hothouse Earth” is greater than once believed.
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/hothouse-earth-study
Article in the Conversation: Earth is already shooting through the 1.5°C global warming limit, two major studies show
theconversation.com/earth-is-already-shooting-through-the-1-5-c-global-warming-limit-two-major-studies-show-249133
Yale Environment 360 article: Why We Won’t Know When We’ve Passed the 1.5-Degree Threshold
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/1.5-degrees-scientific-consensus
Yale Environment 360 article: African Forests Have Become a Source of Carbon Emissions
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/african-forests-carbon-source
Yale Environment 360 article: Overshoot: The World Is Hitting Point of No Return on Climate:
With warming set to pass the critical 1.5-degree limit, scientists are warning that the world is on course to trigger tipping points that would lead to cascading consequences — from the melting of ice sheets to the death of the Amazon rainforest — that could not be reversed.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/1.5-degrees-tipping-points
One Earth scientific paper:
The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory
William J. Ripple1,2,10 ∙ Christopher Wolf3,10 chrisgraywolf@gmail.com ∙ Johan Rockström4 ∙ Katherine Richardson5 ∙ Nico Wunderling4,6,9 ∙ Jillian W. Gregg3 ∙ Thomas Westerhold7 ∙ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber8
Abstract
Earth’s climate is now departing from the stable conditions that supported human civilization for millennia. Crossing critical temperature thresholds may trigger self-reinforcing feedbacks and tipping dynamics that amplify warming and destabilize distant Earth system components. Uncertain tipping thresholds make precaution essential, as crossing them could commit the planet to a hothouse trajectory with long-lasting and potentially irreversible consequences.
Link: cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(25)00391-4
Direct link to pdf of Ripple paper: cell.com/one-earth/pdfExtended/S2590-3322(25)00391-4
Image of Geologic Time Scales: https://trenton.mcz.harvard.edu/geologic-time-scale
Great image showing temperature of planet Earth going back 542 million years:
muchadoaboutclimate.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/blog4_temp.png
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Year end - Year start GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-paul-...
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
