Some experts believe we could hit catastrophic climate ‘tipping points’ in a matter of years. The U.K. government, with a bit of help from Dominic Cummings, is trying to prepare. Free article usually reserved for subscribers The £81 million, multi-year scheme could deploy robots to monitor the impact of climate change in the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic. | Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images December 30, 2024 4:21 am CET LONDON — The U.K., along with the rest of the world, may be on the brink of climate disaster. If the worst happens, Whitehall is going to want a little bit of warning. So it is turning to scientific experts for help — and to a government-backed center for innovative research which also happens to be the legacy left by one of the most controversial figures in recent U.K. political history. Scientists, assisted with millions in government funding, are about to embark on a mission to set up an “early warning system” for two so-called climate change ‘tipping points’: critical thresholds which, if breached, could plunge Britain and much of the world into a new reality of extreme weather and food insecurity. The £81 million, multi-year scheme could deploy robots — dubbed WALL-E by some experts, in honor of Pixar’s robotic environmental hero — to monitor the impact of climate change in the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic. The cash would also be used for supercomputer models of historic climate data. It will all be led by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), an independent body funded by the government and founded at the instigation of former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s top aide until he was forced out of Downing Street in a swirl of ignominy in 2020. ARIA has a remit to carry out […]