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date: 07 December 2023

Multiple Equilibria in the Climate Systemlocked

Multiple Equilibria in the Climate Systemlocked

  • Henk A. DijkstraHenk A. DijkstraInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University

Summary

The idea that under the same external forcing conditions, the climate system is able to have several (statistical) equilibrium states is both fascinating and worrying: fascinating because the interaction of different positive and negative feedbacks can then lead to different large-scale reorganizations of the transport of heat (and other properties) over the globe; worrying because perturbations on the current equilibrium state can then unexpectedly cause transitions in large-scale transport properties, with potential disastrous changes in regional weather conditions. In this article, the development of the idea to explain peculiar climate changes using multiple equilibrium states is presented.

Keywords

Subjects

  • Climate Systems and Climate Dynamics: Theoretical Foundations

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