Scales and Patterns in the Earth System

The circulations of the Earth's atmosphere and ocean as well as biogeochemical processes are driven by sunlight, from the molecular level of solar radiation absorption to large scale tele-connections. The different scales in the Earth system are associated with characteristic spatial arrangements, including weather, clouds and ecological patterns.The complex non-linear physical, chemical, and biological interactions among the components of the Earth System
are becoming an increasingly important focus in global change research (R.A. Pielke Sr, H.J. Schellnhuber and D. Sahagian).

In non-linear systems a small perturbation in one location can lead to a large response in another location, illustrated by the formulation of Edward
N. Lorenz: "a butterfly flapping its wings in Beijing could affect the weather thousands of miles away some days later". There are many components (or sub-systems) of the Earth system that could display non-linear behavior and transitions under anthropogenic climate forcing. Such non-linear transitions may constitute "tipping points" (T.M. Lenton).

The workshop will address complex Earth interactions across disciplines, relevant to global change research.