SKM 2021 – scientific programme

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SYCE: Symposium Climate and energy: Challenges and options from a physics perspective

SYCE 1: Climate and energy: Challenges and options from a physics perspective

SYCE 1.5: Invited Talk

Thursday, September 30, 2021, 15:45–16:15, Audimax 1

Path bifurcations ahead: critical transitions in World-Earth system dynamics of the Anthropocene — •Jonathan F. Donges — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

This decade marks a cross-roads for the future of human societies on Earth. Ambitious efforts to achieve rapid decarbonization and sustainability transformation of social-economic systems on a planetary scale may set the Earth on a path to climate stabilization. If these efforts fail, the World-Earth system may lock-in to less desirable and risky trajectories towards a heating climate in a wasteland Anthropocene. This contribution will discuss how tipping points in climate and social systems contribute to create such possible path bifurcations and will elaborate on how the physics of complex systems can contribute to better understanding of this complex landscape of future World-Earth system trajectories.