#teleconnection

Climate System teleconnection ... climate tipping elements can be linked with the potential predictability of cascading tipping dynamics. It seems what happens in the Amazon (Deforrestation), doesn't stay in the Amazon.

What are climate system tipping points? Well Wikipedia defines them as:

“In climate science, a tipping point is a critical threshold that, when crossed, leads to large and often irreversible changes in the climate system. If tipping points are crossed, they are likely to have severe impacts on human society. Tipping behaviour is found across the climate system, in ecosystems, ice sheets, and the circulation of the ocean and atmosphere.”

Researchers were surprised to find that due to tree loss, warmer temperatures in the Amazon correlated with rising temperatures in Tibet and the West Antarctic ice sheet. They also found that when it rained more in the Amazon, there tended to be less precipitation in both of the other two regions.

"We find that the Amazon Rainforest Area (ARA) exhibits strong correlations with regions such as the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and West Antarctic ice sheet. Models show that the identified teleconnection propagation path between the ARA and the TP is robust under climate change. In addition, we detect that TP snow cover extent has been losing stability since 2008. We further uncover that various climate extremes between the ARA and the TP are synchronized under climate change. Our framework highlights that tipping elements can be linked and also the potential predictability of cascading tipping dynamics."

Teng Liu et al, Teleconnections among tipping elements in the Earth system, Nature Climate Change (2023). (OpenAccess) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01558-4

Related: Valerie N. Livina, Connected climate tipping elements, Nature Climate Change (2023). (Paywall) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01573-5