Tipping Points: A Brief Review of their Role as Wicked Problems in Climate Change
Abstract:
Climate change is a "wicked" problem due to its complexity, urgency, and interconnectedness. In recent years, a new structural element in the climate system has been defined by climatologists as tipping points. Tipping points can lead to sudden and irreversible shifts in the climate system, often recognized only post-occurrence, with new research enhancing our understanding but also raising new questions, making the climate problem even harder to solve and understand. This paper traces the origin of climatic tipping points and why these tipping points exemplify the wicked nature of climate change. Additionally, it defines tipping points and examines their cascading impacts across various sectors and systems. It discusses the lack of a definitive stopping rule, the disparity between local and global warming, and the complexity of climate solutions. The frequent breaches in 2023 of the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement further underscores the seriousness of the tipping point problem. The research delves into the economic implications of tipping points, analyzing recent research on models to estimate their impacts on the social cost of carbon. The study also highlights the need for adaptive governance to build resilience against these non-linear and cascading challenges.
