World at global warming ‘tipping point’

THE world may be on the brink of a global warming “tipping point” that could lead to sea levels rising 23ft and doom future generations to catastrophic flooding, an expert has warned.

A temperature rise of just 1C would trigger the unstoppable collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, a vast layer of ice stretching for 1,900km and covering 80% of Greenland, said Professor Tim Lenton, from the University of East Anglia, in Norwich.

Of this warming, 0.7C, already due to take place, has only been held up by natural time lags in the climate system.