Abstract for: Approaching the Tipping Point: Critical Transitions in Systems

For complex dynamic systems there are a limited number of transition paths to shift from their normal system state into a catastrophic system state. In the present paper, the time development for five generic types of paths have been identified and analyzed. Here, concepts of systems science are linked to observations in human-environment-systems and ecosystems. These generic paths allow analyzing systems from a systemic perspective of how their critical threshold is reached.