Vulnerable areas include the melting polar ice sheets that could lead to meters of sea level rise, as well as the Amazon basin, where tropical forests are at risk of turning into savannas.
But can one tipping point have a domino effect on another area? Recent research suggests that this is already happening.
Climate-driven changes in the Amazon basin have effects on the Tibetan Plateau 20,000 kilometers (12,500 miles) away, scientists from China, Europe and Israel reported earlier this month in Nature Climate Change.