Researchers are developing artificial intelligence that could assess climate change tipping points. The deep-learning algorithm could act as an early warning system against runaway climate change. In a new paper, the researchers look at thresholds beyond which rapid or irreversible change happens in a system. "We found that the new algorithm was able to not only predict the tipping points more accurately than existing approaches but also provide information about what type of state lies beyond the tipping point," said Chris Bauch, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo. "Many of these tipping points are undesirable, and we'd like to prevent them if we can." Some tipping points that are often associated with runaway climate change include melting Arctic permafrost, which could release vast amounts of methane and spur further rapid heating; breakdown of oceanic current systems, which could lead to almost immediate changes in weather patterns; or ice sheet disintegration, which could lead to rapid sea-level change.

Many experts believe that the Earth is quickly approaching various "tipping points" beyond which the effects of climate change could become irreversible. Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are currently developing an artificial intelligence algorithm that could assess climate change tipping points to act as an early warning system. Some tipping points that are often associated with irreversible climate change include: the melting of the Arctic permafrost, leading to the release of huge amounts of methane in the atmosphere and rapid heating; the disintegration of ice sheets, causing sea-level changes; or the breakdown of oceanic current systems, spurring severe fluctuations in weather patterns. In order to detect in advance the possible emergence of such tipping points, scientists have created a deep-learning algorithm and trained it on what they characterize as a "universe of possible tipping points," including over half a million of possible models. Additionally, they have also tested it on specific real-world tipping points in different systems, including historical climate-related changes.

A number of experts believe the Earth is rapidly approaching its'tipping point' for reversing climate change, but researchers at Canada's University of Waterloo are creating artificial intelligence that could act as an'early warning system' against a runway threat to the planet. The deep learning algorithm was created to better predict the tipping points, while also understanding what happens after they have been reached, the study's co-author, Chris Bauch, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo, said. 'Many of these tipping points are undesirable, and we'd like to prevent them if we can,' Bauch said in a statement. Canadian researchers are creating AI that could act as an'early warning system' against runway climate change. In May, scientists said there was a 40 percent chance that annual temperature rises would go beyond the the 1.5C (2.7F) set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.