Rutgers: Scientists Question the Use of "Tipping Point" Metaphor in Climate Change Discussions [View all]

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Scientists Question the Use of “Tipping Point” Metaphor in Climate Change Discussions

By Kitta MacPherson
Date December 3, 2024

The concept may be confusing the public and inhibiting action, researchers say
A group of scientists, including researchers from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Princeton University and Carleton University, has questioned the accuracy and utility of the metaphor “tipping point” in calling attention to the threat of climate change.

The phrase, while perhaps initially useful as a clarion call that warns about sudden, drastic changes, may now be confusing the public and impeding action, researchers said.

Writing a perspective in Nature Climate Change, the scientists, from the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute, Princeton’s Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment, and Climate Resilient Societies through Equitable Transformations (ReSET) Lab at Carleton University as well as six other academic institutions, argue that the notion of tipping points, when referencing physical and human aspects of the Earth’s changing climate, is not well-defined and often applied inappropriately. There also is no evidence, they said, that the apocalyptic tone of the phrasing is driving action.

The researchers said the public is more likely to respond to threats that are perceived as relatively certain, near-term and nearby than to what are viewed as abstract dangers, the timing of which are either highly uncertain or unpredictable.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02196-8