Our planet has experienced massive climate changes in the past. But for complex life, these fluctuations often led to mass death and even extinction. Between this year's biblical floods, apocalyptic fires, and life-threatening heat domes, people are starting to wonder if we've crossed a tipping point. climate change Climatologists and ecologists who study tipping points say what we're seeing are just extreme events amplified by global warming. But they've been warning about the risks of climate tipping points for years. Now people are listening. Research published last year in in the journal Science suggests that the risk of a global tipping point that triggers accelerated climate warming will become significant when average global temperatures rise by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This is likely to happen in the 2030s. (FD Flam, Bloomberg)