Y10W14WR What Climate Tipping Points Mean
Part 1
How to Write
An explanatory text makes a concept, process or system understandable to a reader who is encountering it for the first time. It is written for someone who wants to genuinely understand how or why something works. The tone should be clear and patient — building understanding step by step without assuming prior knowledge.
- Ideas & content: Select the most important information needed to understand the topic. Focus on how and why — explanation is about building genuine understanding, not just describing what exists.
- Structure & cohesion: Move from the general to the specific. Introduce the concept, explain how or why it works, then give examples or consequences. Use cause-and-effect connectives to show relationships between ideas.
- Voice & audience: Write as a knowledgeable guide. Define terms as you introduce them. Avoid jargon without explanation. Your reader should feel guided through the topic, not overwhelmed by it.
- Language choices: Use precise vocabulary and define technical terms clearly. Write in the present tense for ongoing processes. Vary sentence length — shorter sentences help when ideas are complex.
- Conventions: Spell technical vocabulary accurately. Use commas, colons and semicolons to manage complex explanations. Keep sentences clear even when the ideas are demanding.
Common pitfalls: Describing what something is without explaining how or why it works — readers need to understand the mechanism, not just the label. Including too many facts without connecting them into a clear explanation that builds understanding progressively.
Part 2
Your Task Plan for Today
Question: Write a three-paragraph explanatory piece explaining what climate tipping points are, which tipping points are of greatest concern and what the implications are for how we think about climate risk. Select the most relevant material from the notes, organise it clearly and write entirely in your own words. You will need to decide what to leave out.
Stimulus: Read the following notes carefully. They contain more information than you can use.
Climate tipping points are thresholds in the Earth’s climate system at which a relatively small change can trigger a larger, self-reinforcing shift that may be difficult or impossible to reverse. Scientists have identified a number of potential tipping points of concern. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is one: if enough ice melts, the process may become self-sustaining because the exposed darker rock and water absorbs more solar radiation than ice, causing further warming and melting. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is considered similarly vulnerable. The collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a system of ocean currents that distributes heat around the globe and includes the Gulf Stream, could significantly alter temperature and rainfall patterns across Europe and North America. The Amazon rainforest is considered at risk of dieback: if enough of the forest is cleared or dies due to drought, it may no longer generate sufficient moisture to sustain itself and could transition to savannah. Permafrost in the Arctic contains large quantities of carbon and methane accumulated over thousands of years. As permafrost thaws due to warming, these gases are released, further accelerating warming in a feedback loop. Coral reef systems, including the Great Barrier Reef, are at risk of large-scale bleaching and collapse if ocean temperatures exceed certain thresholds. The concern about tipping points is that they could interact — one tipping point triggering others in a cascade. The scientific debate involves significant uncertainty about the precise temperature thresholds at which different tipping points might activate. Some researchers argue current global warming trajectories put several tipping points within reach this century. Others caution that the timescales involved are long and the uncertainties real. The Paris Agreement aimed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels partly because of concern about tipping point risks. Current global commitments are not on track to meet that target.
Task Analysis: This task asks you to explain a concept or system clearly and completely. You must select relevant material, organise it logically and write for a reader with no specialist knowledge. A strong response helps readers understand not just how something works, but why it matters.
Quick Plan
Plan your explanation:
- Your main concept — what are you explaining and why does it matter?
- Key parts or steps — what are the main elements?
- Why it works this way — what’s the logic or reason?
- Real examples — what concrete examples clarify the concept?
- Why readers should care — what real-world significance does this have?
Define the key concept
Begin by explaining your core concept clearly. Avoid jargon without explanation. Help readers understand exactly what you’re about to discuss.
Background/context
Help readers understand why this topic matters. What real-world problems or questions does it involve? What makes this worth knowing about?
Causes/effects
Show how things work and what their consequences are. Trace cause-and-effect relationships explicitly. This helps readers understand not just what happens but why.
Examples that teach
Use specific, concrete examples that illuminate the concept. Real scenarios and applications make abstract ideas tangible and memorable.
Limits/nuance
Acknowledge what’s complex, uncertain or contested about this topic. What don’t experts fully understand yet? This intellectual honesty builds credibility and prevents oversimplification.
Check before you submit: Have you explained the concept clearly without jargon? Have you included relevant examples? Have you answered why this matters? Is your explanation accessible?
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
- Opens in a new window.