Teleconnections among tipping elements in the Earth system

Teng Liu, Dean Chen, Lan Yang, Jun Meng, Zanchenling Wang, Josef Ludescher, Jingfang Fan, Saini Yang, Deliang Chen, Jürgen Kurths, Xiaosong Chen, Shlomo Havlin, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tipping elements are components of the Earth system that may shift abruptly and irreversibly from one state to another at specific thresholds. It is not well understood to what degree tipping of one system can influence other regions or tipping elements. Here, we propose a climate network approach to analyse the global impacts of a prominent tipping element, the Amazon Rainforest Area (ARA). We find that the ARA exhibits strong correlations with regions such as the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and West Antarctic ice sheet. Models show that the identified teleconnection propagation path between the ARA and the TP is robust under climate change. In addition, we detect that TP snow cover extent has been losing stability since 2008. We further uncover that various climate extremes between the ARA and the TP are synchronized under climate change. Our framework highlights that tipping elements can be linked and also the potential predictability of cascading tipping dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)67-74
Number of pages8
JournalNature Climate Change
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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