Is there a therefore? If we know it’s locked in we can start discussing the knock on effects that we know will happen as a consequence. It’s quite rare that climate science gets opportunities for solid predictions. I would guess that England and Northern Europe are in for colder winters starting in a decade but I’m not up to date on the predicted effects of collapse of the Atlantic currents.

Pokeing the climate deniers in.the.eye.

There is a significant chance that "locked in" would be a best case scenario, as it suggests that we have a clue about what we have gotten our selves into. I have done my best to teach myself how to understand all of the factors effecting our planets climate, and have looked at the sattelite feeds since day 2, on the internet, and I can very definitly say that we are in completly uncharted territory that is well outside any of the worst case modeles or predictions.What that means for our weather is unknown.and debatable, but certainly warmer, and less comfortable for most. The real danger for us is connected with deep ocean warming, which while the physics is understood perfectly, there isn't enough data for a baseline and to monitor and predict changes.

https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/products/ocean/sst/contour/

https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today

https://climatereanalyzer.org/

Why do climate people write headlines like this? Everyone gets cynical and dismissive when they endure predictions like those made by Al Gore or Greta Thunberg. Even if the predictions are directionally correct, people remember phrases like "locked in" and assume that the entire science was broken. If the current only partially collapses or changes in a material way, everyone will say, "See, it wasn't locked in."