Is our climate headed for a mathematical tipping point? - Victor J. Donnay
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-our-climate-headed-for-mathematical-chaos-victor-j-donnay Scientists have warned that as CO2 levels in the ...
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For most of us, two degrees Celsius is a tiny difference in temperature, not even enough to make you crack a window. But scientists have warned that as CO2 levels in the atmosphere rise, an increase in the Earth's temperature by even this amount can lead to catastrophic effects all over the world. How can such a small measurable change in one factor lead to massive and unpredictable changes in other factors? The answer lies in the concept of a mathematical tipping point, which we can understand through the familiar game of billiards. The basic rule of billiard motion is that a ball will go straight until it hits a wall, then bounce off at an angle equal to its incoming angle. For simplicity's sake, we'll assume that there is no friction, so balls can keep moving indefinit...
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For most of us, two degrees Celsius is a tiny difference in temperature, not even enough to make you crack a window. But scientists have warned that as CO2 levels in the atmosphere rise, an increase in the Earth's temperature by even this amount can lead to catastrophic effects all over the world. How can such a small measurable change in one factor lead to massive and unpredictable changes in other factors? The answer lies in the concept of a mathematical tipping point, which we can understand through the familiar game of billiards. The basic rule of billiard motion is that a ball will go straight until it hits a wall, then bounce off at an angle equal to its incoming angle. For simplicity's sake, we'll assume that there is no friction, so balls can keep moving indefinit...
