--- title: "Earth on Track to Become Uninhabitable, Scientists Say" description: "The planet is close to entering a death-spiral that could bring about a worst-case-scenario known as \"hothouse Earth.\"" date: "2026-02-14" modified: "2026-02-14" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/earth-uninhabitable-climate-change" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Energy" - "Environment" - "Fossil Fuels" - "Science & Energy" --- # Earth on Track to Become Uninhabitable, Scientists Say ![A large wildfire is burning intensely on a hillside at night, with bright orange flames and glowing embers spreading across the landscape. Thick smoke rises into the dark sky, and the fire's glow reflects on the water in the foreground. Dim lights from buildings or homes are visible at the base of the hill.]() *Getty Images* Surprise, surprise: all that climate stuff scientists have been warning us about is coming back to bite us. And by us, of course, we mean all of humanity. As reported [by the *Guardian*](), scientists just published a warning that Earth is approaching a point of no return. A new study in the [journal *One Earth*]() shows multiple climate systems — the Greenland ice sheet, the West Antarctic ice sheet, boreal permafrost, the Amazon rainforest — are all much closer to collapse than previously thought. "Research shows that several Earth system components may be closer to destabilising than once believed," the researchers urged. "While the exact risk is uncertain, it is clear that current climate commitments are insufficient." The analysis is based on climate "tipping points," meaning collapses of environmental systems that lead other climate systems beyond their own tipping points, creating a snowball effect where the planet spirals into a worst-case-scenario known as "hothouse Earth." Under this scenario, the long-term temperature is projected to rise about 9 degrees Fahrenheit [above pre-industrial averages]() — which would be *really* bad. "Crossing even some of the \[tipping point\] thresholds could commit the planet to a hothouse trajectory," said Christopher Wolf, a scientist at the environmental group Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates. "Policymakers and the public remain largely unaware of the risks posed by what would effectively be a point-of-no-return transition." What makes this all particularly insulting is the fact that the poor people of the world — those who will suffer the earliest and deepest losses as a result of climate change — are powerless to stop these tipping points from boiling over. And not for lack of will: the [global climate movement is growing]() steadily, as Americans have perhaps [never been more aware]() that climate change will impact the low-income people of the world the most. Unfortunately, the power to reverse these decisions doesn't belong to the people, but to a [small cabal of the ultra-rich](). The future of the planet is so far out of our control that some environmental experts argue not even the world's most powerful governments can stop the collapse. As University of Manitoba professor David Camfield and author of the 2022 book "Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change" has explained, the [level of political power]() held by the ultra-rich and their corporations is so immense that even a government with popular support and commitment to emissions cuts would struggle under the weight of corporate investment strikes, pressure from credit agencies, and catastrophic market disruption. "To weaken those political obstacles sufficiently that a government could get a just transition underway would take massive pressure of the kind that only movements can unleash," Camfield asserts. The math, in other words, is brutal. Capitalism's logic demands unending accumulation of wealth, leading to a world in which corporations must grow or die, no matter the consequences. To transition out of this mess would mean weakening capital's entire grip on power — something which has only ever been achieved when the great masses of toiling people come together to demand a better world. **More on climate change:** *[The Richest 1 Percent Burned Their Entire Share of Carbon for the Year in Just 10 Days]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()