A Brief Introduction to Earth Tipping Points

This is a brief Youtube clip introducing the Earth Tipping Points. I created this short clip to help a friend get a glimpse of the tipping points that are likely to send the world into environmental and social collapse. I had not intended to share it wider. However, she persuaded me that it was useful and should be shared wider. Most other videos, she told me, were either too long or highly technical; usually both.

So, the caveats on this clip.

1. It is short and is intended only as an introduction, not a complete overview,
2. A lot has been left out of this introduction. Hence, for those wanting to find out more; there are many videos, papers, documents available on the Internet.
3. If this piques your curiosity, then that is great. We cannot understand the dynamics of climate chaos, of collapse, or the possibilities inherent in the future, without understanding tipping points.

The concept of Tipping Points is fairly recent. Malcolm Gladwell popularised the term with the publication in 2000 of his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. We have, however, understood the phenomenon for a long time. We know it in the saying "the last straw to break the camel's back."

That saying is a useful one. It teaches us some of the lessons of tipping points:

1. We cannot predict when the final straw will be placed upon the camel's back,
2. Although it is the final straw that brings the camel to its knees, all the other individual straws contributed,
3. We cannot assume that the camel will get back up again. If its back has been broken, the chances of it doing so are negligible,
4. As each straw is being placed upon the camel's back we assume that the camel can continue to hold the load. After all - what is one more little straw?

I urge viewers of this clip to seek out further explanations and clarifications. 

https://youtu.be/CehwkCNXOyU