Systems Thinking for Sustainability
Learn how systems thinking helps solve sustainability challenges by understanding feedback loops, complexity, resilience, leverage points, and interconnected Earth systems.
Topic archive
Earth System Climate
Understanding the interconnected components and processes that shape Earth’s climate.
Production-Based vs Consumption-Based Emissions: 2022 Data and Trends
In 2022, global production-based CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry were 36.1 GtCO2, while consumption-based emissions were identical globally but varied by country…
Earth System Tipping Points: Risks, Evidence and Uncertainty
Learn what Earth system tipping points are, the strongest scientific evidence, major tipping elements, cascading risks, uncertainties, and why every fraction of warming matters.
Earth System Science: A Complete Introduction
Learn the foundations of Earth System Science, Earth's interconnected spheres, energy flows, biogeochemical cycles, feedbacks, tipping points, and human impacts.
What Is the Earth System?
The Earth System is the complex, interconnected set of physical, chemical, and biological processes that link the planet's atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, and life…
What Is Earth System Resilience?
Earth system resilience is the capacity of the planet’s interconnected physical, chemical, and biological components to absorb disturbances and reorganize while maintaining essential functions…
Positive vs Negative Climate Feedback Explained: How Earth’s Systems Respond to Change
Positive climate feedbacks amplify an initial change, such as warming from greenhouse gases, while negative feedbacks dampen it. These feedback loops are critical in…
What Is the Global Carbon Budget?
The global carbon budget is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) that can be emitted while still limiting global warming to a specific…
What Is a Climate Tipping Point?
A climate tipping point is a critical threshold beyond which a natural system undergoes a significant, often irreversible change, even if the driving forces…
How to Read an Environmental Chart: The Keeling Curve and Atmospheric CO₂
The Keeling Curve shows the latest atmospheric CO₂ concentration at Mauna Loa Observatory: 426.55 parts per million (ppm) in February 2025, as reported by…