The risk of a runaway climate is a concern among scientists. Positive feedback loops in the Earth’s climate system amplify warming to the point where it becomes self-sustaining and irreversible. The risk of severe and cascading climate tipping points is very real.
Important key risks are:
The loss of Arctic ice, reducing the reflection of sunlight, and thawing permafrost releasing methane, and warming oceans releasing stored CO2.
Critical thresholds exist for the Amazon Rainforest and the Greenland ice sheet, where small changes can lead to irreversible shifts.
Continued high production of more CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions are exacerbating warming and increasing the likelihood of triggering feedback loops.
Degraded ecosystems are absorbing less CO2, further accelerating warming.
Deforestation, fossil fuel use, and industrial agriculture contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
The urgency to remove these risks is clear. Passing critical temperature thresholds could lead to catastrophic and irreversible changes. Just taking political action is not enough. Just taking personal action is not enough. Just whimpering in a corner is not enough. Just ignoring is not enough.
All of us must take action on all fronts and all places… that might be enough.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
