Is global warning reaching a point of no return?

Review recently published in Nature:
Early-warning signals for critical transitions. By Marten Scheffer, Jordi Bascompte, William A. Brock, Victor Brovkin, Stephen R. Carpenter, Vasilis Dakos, Hermann Held, Egbert H. van Nes, Max Rietkerk & George Sugihara

Editor's summary:

"Many complex systems, ranging from ecosystems to financial markets and the climate, can have critical thresholds or tipping points where a sudden shift from one stable state to a contrasting regime may occur. Predicting such critical points before they are reached is extremely difficult, but work in different fields of science is now suggesting the existence of generic early warning signals that may indicate for a wide class of systems if a critical threshold is approaching. Scheffer et al. conclude their review of this work optimistically: in situations where the existence of a critical transition is suspected, the generic character of the warning signs suggests that they may provide valuable information on whether the probability of a major event is increasing."

First paragraph:
"Complex dynamical systems, ranging from ecosystems to financial markets and the climate, can have tipping points at which a sudden shift to a contrasting dynamical regime may occur. Although predicting such critical points before they are reached is extremely difficult, work in different scientific fields is now suggesting the existence of generic early-warning signals that may indicate for a wide class of systems if a critical threshold is approaching."