At a Glance

If CO2 concentrations continue to rise, coastal stratus clouds may disappear.This would trigger a spike in global warming of about 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

The continued rise of carbon emissions could lead to a tipping point where common clouds that help keep the planet cool would no longer form, triggering a spike in global warming, a new study says.

The study specifically studies the impact on stratocumulus clouds, which cover approximately 20 percent of subtropical oceans and help keep coastal areas cool and global surface temperatures lowered by reflecting sunlight back into space.

Without these common clouds that are especially prevalent in the subtropics, temperatures would spike to levels not seen for 56 million years.

(MORE: Dragon-Shaped Aurora in Iceland Captured in Stunning Image)

Researchers for the study published this week in the journal Nature say CO2 concentrations of 1,200 parts per million (ppm) would lead to the . Once these clouds disappear, a spike in global warming of about 14 degrees Fahrenheit would follow on top of temperature changes already happening as a result of greenhouse gases.

Using a new model simulation technique that analyzed a small section of the sky rather than using a global model that is ineffective in analyzing what happens to clouds, the researchers determined that if humanity continues to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, the level of CO2 could rise to 1,200 ppm within the next century. Currently, .

Once stratocumulus clouds disappear, they won't return until CO2 concentrations return to below that threshold, the researchers noted.

Lead author Tapio Schneider of the California Institute of Technical noted in a press release that the is "a rough estimate rather than a firm number."

"I think and hope that technological changes will slow carbon emissions so that we do not actually reach such high CO2 concentrations. But our results show that there are dangerous climate change thresholds that we had been unaware of," Schneider said.