Prediction of Global Warming: Nobel Prize – 2021

Synopsis

The understanding of complex systems is vital in physics. These systems are characterized by their randomness and disorder. One such system that affects us all, and hence is of utmost importance to humankind, is the Earth’s climate. In this talk, I will discuss one of the topics recognized by the 2021 Nobel Prize in physics, "the physical modelling of Earth's climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming." On October 5th of this year, Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann were awarded the Nobel prize for their work on modelling the Earth’s climate. Manabe led the foundation for our current understanding of climate change in the 1960s, and accurately predicted the effect of greenhouse gases on temperature. In the 70s, Hasselmann’s work helped us link the effect of climate with weather. I will summarize their work and discuss our current understanding of the Earth’s dynamic system.