Abrupt Climate Changes and Tipping Points: Epistemic and Methodological Issues

Lam, Vincent (2023). Abrupt Climate Changes and Tipping Points: Epistemic and Methodological Issues. In: Pellegrino, Gianfranco; Di Paola, Marcello (eds.) Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer 10.1007/978-3-030-16960-2_118-1

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Large-scale and discontinuous rapid transitions in the climate and Earth systems constitute one of the most concerning, yet in many ways one of the least understood aspects of climate change. On the one hand, because of their potential huge impacts on human and ecological systems, it is argued that climate tipping points and their interactions (potentially leading to cascading effects) help “to define that we are in a climate emergency.” On the other hand, it is largely acknowledged that making quantitative (e.g., probabilistic) statements about abrupt climate changes and tipping points is extremely challenging. Some form of tension thus emerges from these two sides of abrupt climate changes and underlies the development of the very notion of climate tipping point. This tension finds its roots in the many epistemic and methodological issues that arise in the context of abrupt climate changes and tipping points. This contribution aims to provide an overview of these issues in a philosophy of science perspective; the expectation is that such a conceptual perspective can help to improve our understanding of the specific challenges related to abrupt climate changes and tipping points.

Item Type:	Book Section (Book Chapter)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy > Theoretical Philosophy 10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
UniBE Contributor:	Lam, Vincent Minh Duc
Subjects:	100 Philosophy 100 Philosophy > 120 Epistemology
Series:	Handbooks in Philosophy
Publisher:	Springer
Language:	English
Submitter:	Vincent Minh Duc Lam
Date Deposited:	08 Mar 2024 10:00
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2024 10:00
Publisher DOI:	10.1007/978-3-030-16960-2_118-1
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Climate tipping points Abrupt climate changes Dynamical systems theory Earth system science Deep uncertainties Climate policy Climate communication Storylines Social tipping points Anthropocene
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/193870