Emergence of cascading dynamics in interacting tipping elements of ecology and climate.

ABSTRACT: In ecology, climate and other fields, (sub)systems have been identified that can transition into a qualitatively different state when a critical threshold or tipping point in a driving process is crossed. An understanding of those tipping elements is of great interest given the increasing influence of humans on the biophysical Earth system. Complex interactions exist between tipping elements, e.g. physical mechanisms connect subsystems of the climate system. Based on earlier work on such coupled nonlinear systems, we systematically assessed the qualitative long-term behaviour of interacting tipping elements. We developed an understanding of the consequences of interactions on the tipping behaviour allowing for tipping cascades to emerge under certain conditions. The (narrative) application

SUBMITTER: Klose AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7353982 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature