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Review
. 2009 Sep 3;461(7260):53-9.
doi: 10.1038/nature08227.

Early-warning signals for critical transitions

Marten Scheffer  1 , Jordi Bascompte, William A Brock, Victor Brovkin, Stephen R Carpenter, Vasilis Dakos, Hermann Held, Egbert H van Nes, Max Rietkerk, George Sugihara
Affiliations
Review

Early-warning signals for critical transitions

Marten Scheffer et al. Nature. .

Abstract

Complex dynamical systems, ranging from ecosystems to financial markets and the climate, can have tipping points at which a sudden shift to a contrasting dynamical regime may occur. Although predicting such critical points before they are reached is extremely difficult, work in different scientific fields is now suggesting the existence of generic early-warning signals that may indicate for a wide class of systems if a critical threshold is approaching.

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References

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