A "tipping point" in an environmental system is a stage of change that, once reached, causes the system to become unstable, forcing it to establish a new balance or "equilibrium". Imagine your room being neat and tidy, but as you keep throwing more clothes around, a point comes when it's no longer just a bit messy - it's completely chaotic! That's your room hitting a "tipping point".

In environmental systems, a tipping point is much more serious. The consequences can be extreme, such as a sudden rise in sea levels or the onset of widespread drought. You could think of it like the straw that broke the camel's back.

Positive feedback loops often push a system toward its tipping point. Let's say you love chocolates, and each time you eat one, you crave more. That's a positive feedback loop. The more you eat, the more you want. Apply this to environmental systems. The more CO2 we pump into the atmosphere, the hotter the Earth gets, leading to more ice melting and releasing more CO2. This is a self-reinforcing loop that can drive us towards a dangerous tipping point.
 

Imagine this scenario - you're cooking soup and you keep increasing the heat. The soup begins to boil, and if you don't turn down the heat, it will start spilling over. In a similar way, rising CO2 levels act like the heat, and the melting of ice sheets and permafrost is like the soup boiling over.