October 13, 2025 · A recent report from 160 scientists states that we have now passed the first landmark event of a series of irreversible climate tipping points with the widespread death of coralLocal Climate & EcologyCoral reefs & bleachingMarine ecosystems that are highly sensitive to thermal stress, where elevated sea temperatures cause corals to expel symbiotic algae (bleaching).Read more in the Glossary → reefs around the world.
In April 2025, CNN reported that 84 percent of the ocean’s reefs have been destroyed due to the most intense harmful bleaching event on record. This event was cited in the report as the first of many that will push Earth systems so far out of balance that they may collapse and create a “new reality” for the world’s climate as a whole.
“We are rapidly approaching multiple Earth system tipping points that could transform our world, with devastating consequences for people and nature,” said Tim Lenton, Founding Director at the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, who led the report.
“We’re in a new climate reality. We’ve crossed a tipping point in the climate system, and we’re now sure we’re going to carry on through 1.5°C of global warming above the prior industrial level, and that’s going to put us in the danger zone for crossing more climate tipping points.”
The report calls for rapid reduction of planet-heating pollution and more persistent efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere, and decisive action from international governments to mitigate climate damage.
Read the Global Tipping Points Report 2025 summary here.
