Tipping Elements in the Earth System: How Stable is the Contemporary Environment?

“After two decades of failed climate protection since the 1990 IPCC Report it is more doubtful than ever whether society will manage to confine global environmental change to sub-dangerous levels,” says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. The tipping-elements field is developing quickly into a broad and relevant research frontier domain, but the issues pose tough challenges for contemporary science."

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber (2009) Tipping Elements in Earth Systems Special Feature: Tipping elements in the Earth System.