Tipping points are feedback problems
The danger is not a single threshold but the reinforcing loops behind it — ice loss, albedo decline and ocean heat uptake that keep pushing once they begin.
Conference Talks archive
KeynoteATLAS25
Earth System Tipping Points — ATLAS25 Keynote
James E. Hansen on the dangerous feedback loops of Earth System Tipping Points, and why we are running out of time.
James E. Hansen · Director of Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions
Columbia University
Date
Information coming soon
Type
Keynote address
- Earth System Tipping Points
- Climate Feedbacks
- Earth Energy Imbalance
- Aerosols
- Global Warming
- Climate Intervention
- Climate Policy
- Comprehensive Security
MEER conference talks · video archive
The argument
About this talk
James E. Hansen is an American climate scientist and former director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In 2006, Hansen was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. He now works as Director of Climate Science at Columbia University.
In his keynote at ATLAS25, Hansen warns the audience of the dangerous feedback loops of Earth System Tipping Points (ESTP). His research and statements have been a controversial talking point among the science community, the media and even some IPCC lead authors. Hansen's message is clear — we're running out of time.
ATLAS25 was organised to bridge scientific understanding of Earth System Tipping Points with strategic policy-making, including approaches to climate intervention research, and to elevate Nordic leadership and cooperation in ESTP risk management as an issue of comprehensive security.
Videography: Anton Baer and Ainu Kyrönseppä. Video editing: Ainu Kyrönseppä. Sound editing: Ilmari Järvenpää. Graphic design: Lotta Hagelin and Saana Ott.
Indexed knowledge
Key topics covered
01
Earth System Tipping Points
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02
Climate Feedbacks
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03
Earth Energy Imbalance
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04
Aerosols
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05
Global Warming
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06
Climate Intervention
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07
Climate Policy
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08
Comprehensive Security
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09
Climate Risk
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10
Climate Science
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The signal
Key takeaways
The timeline is shorter than assumed
Hansen's central message at ATLAS25 is one of urgency: the response window implied by his analysis is considerably shorter than mainstream assessments suggest.
A contested but unavoidable argument
Hansen's positions are debated across the scientific community, the media and among IPCC lead authors — which is precisely why ATLAS25 put them in front of policy-makers.
Tipping-point risk as comprehensive security
ATLAS25 framed Earth System Tipping Points as a Nordic and international security question, not solely an environmental one.
Science reaching the public
The conference reached 143 participants in person, 215 at the Think Corner session and hundreds on the livestream, with media coverage reaching millions.
Why MEER is listening
If feedbacks are accelerating, reducing absorbed sunlight at the surface becomes a near-term protective measure alongside emissions reduction — the core of MEER's work.
Questions worth asking
Frequently asked questions
About the speaker
James E. Hansen
Director of Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions · Columbia University
James E. Hansen is an American climate scientist and former director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In 2006 he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. He now works as Director of Climate Science at Columbia University, where his research on Earth's energy imbalance, aerosols and accelerating warming has become a central — and often contested — reference point for the scientific community, the media and IPCC lead authors alike.
About the conference
ATLAS25
ATLAS25 was organised to bridge scientific understanding of Earth System Tipping Points (ESTP) with strategic policy-making, including approaches to climate intervention research, and to elevate Nordic leadership and cooperation in ESTP risk management as an issue of comprehensive security. The conference drew 143 participants, with 215 attending the Think Corner session and hundreds more watching the livestream. Media coverage of ATLAS25 reached millions through outlets including Helsingin Sanomat, Yle News, MTV News, Hufvudstadsbladet and New story.
Downloads and further reading
Suggested reading
Energy Balance
How absorbed and emitted energy set Earth's temperature.
A Warming World
The observed trajectory of global warming.
Understanding Albedo
Reflectivity and the feedbacks that amplify warming.
Why Cooling Matters
The human case for reducing heat exposure now.
Publications
Scientific work behind MEER's approach.
