This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes new methods for describing complex systems and predicting their long-term behavior of complex systems, which are often obscured by apparent randomness and disorder.

For groundbreaking contributions to our collective understanding of complex systems, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 was awarded with one half jointly to Dr. Syukuro Manabe and Dr. Klaus Hasselmann for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming. The other half was awarded to Dr. Giorgio Parisi for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.  

Much of the climate related work within the wider Future Earth community builds off of their discoveries and has contributed to decades of global change research. 

“The discoveries being recognised this year demonstrate that our knowledge about the climate rests on a solid scientific foundation, based on a rigorous analysis of observations. This year’s Laureates have all contributed to us gaining deeper insight into the properties and evolution of complex physical systems,” says Thors Hans Hansson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

This Prize is a great honor to all working on these topics, within these fields and serves as recognition for the importance of collective scientific understanding across disciplines.

“The Nobel Prize to climate scientist Klaus Hasselmann is a fantastic recognition of how fundamentally Earth System Modelling has been advancing our understanding of the tremendous risks of climate change,” said Johan Rockström, Co-Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “This is not just of highest scientific relevance, it is also the basis for working towards a safe climate future for all people on our planet.”

“Research and Innovation for sustainability remains of utmost importance to the Future Earth community. The recognition with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 for the importance of climate and complexity scientists among other great researchers that have shaped our lives is significant.’’ said Dr. Judit Ungvari and Dr. Giles B. Sioen, Co-leads for Research and Innovation at Future Earth.

“As we are continuously improving our climate models and understanding of complexity, we are increasingly able to make more informed decisions on how to live our lives. Effective system change can only build upon our deep knowledge of complex systems, and we already know that urgent change is needed. The foundations for this work have been built, and it is up to all of us to take it forward,” continued Dr. Judit Ungvari and Dr. Giles B. Sioen.

Future Earth now hosts 27 active Global Research Networks shaping our understanding of the Anthropocene – a new epoch in the geologic history of Earth marked by the influence of humans on the planet and in much need of study.