Many scientists focus on 3°C of warming as the tipping point that will fundamentally
change how we live on this planet.
In the extreme conditions of a world warmer by 3°C, the Amazon rain forest could
experience repeated cycles of drought and fire. If we lose much of the Amazon, it could cause the re-release of
hundreds of millions of tons of stored carbon, perhaps intensifying global warming another degree all by
itself.
An increase of 3°C causes the snowcaps on the Alps to all but disappear.
As the oceans get hotter and hotter, a new global climate pattern emerges that is unstable
in the extreme, perhaps mirroring the weather anomaly we call El Niño.
If the planet warms by 3°C, the world could see the next generation of superstorms,
the first Category 6 hurricanes.
Thousands of species worldwide would face extinction.