Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3.1.2. Fluctuation
Global and land surface temperature fluctuation is shown on figure 1. It
can be noticed that fluctuation pattern is similar in the different time period.
This implies that these fluctuations are result of the disturbances caused by the
different processes [7].
Figure 3. Global Temperature Fluctuation.
3.1.3. Resilience of the System
The resilience of a system relates to the magnitude of disturbance required
to fundamentally disrupt the system causing a dramatic shift to another state of
the system, controlled by a different set of processes [8,9]. When resilience is
lost or significantly decreased, a system is at high risk of shifting into a
qualitatively different state. The new state of the system may be undesirable.
Restoring a system to it's previous state can be complex, expensive, and
sometimes even impossible. Research suggests that to restore some systems to
their previous state requires a return to conditions well before the point of
collapse.
