George Monbiot’s summary of the planetary science of climate heating, nature destruction and Earth system collapse this century, and the disintegration of civilised society, is excellent (The ‘flickering’ of Earth systems is warning us: act now, or see our already degraded paradise lost, 31 October). My only caveat is his repeated use of the word “could”, which overeggs the possibility of an alternative future where the biospheric tipping points into catastrophe are avoided.
Even if human carbon emissions and destructive developments in primary nature miraculously cease tomorrow, the planet will continue to heat because releases from natural sources will not stop. They include carbon and methane from permafrost and gas hydrates in shallow polar waters, collapsing forests and wetlands, increased water vapour, and the loss of reflective albedo from polar and mountain ice melt, meaning further atmospheric and ocean warming etc. That is the “doom loop”.
