The basic energy and matter flows Source: E. Laszlo, Evolution, 1987

The biosphere’s lifesupport systems and humanity’s socioeconomic systems are no longer coherent

Agriculture Impacts Crop yields and commodity prices Irrigation demands Pests and weed Water Resource Impacts Changes in water supply and timing Water quality Increased competition for water Coastal Area Impacts Erosion of beaches Inundation of coastal wetlands Costs to defend coastal communities Forest Impacts Change in forest composition Shift geographic range of forests Forest health and productivity Ecosystem Impacts Shifts in ecological zones Loss of habitat and species Coral reefs threatened Critical incoherence: the range of impacts Rainfall patterns Sea Level Rise Temperature Extreme Weather Health Impacts Weather-related mortality/heat stress Infectious diseases Air quality-induced respiratory effects

Global warming The next 100 years compared to the last 1000 Projections of global average surface temperature show we’re heading for a climatic state far outside the range of variation of the last 1000 years. We are on the way to making the world hotter in the 21 st century than it has been in the last million years.

Computer simulations by the Princeton Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab. Warming under a doubling of CO 2 from the pre-industrial level Warming under a quadrupling from pre- industrial level. Under quadrupling CO 2, North hemisphere mid- continent average warming is C A roasted world!

Sea-level rise: faster than predicted Global Sea-level rise as recorded by satellite measurements (upper line with linear trend), with IPCC projections (2001a) and range of uncertainty. [Cazenave and Nerem, 2004]

Water scarcity in 2025 Outlines show watersheds that are both in and approaching scarcity; About 2.3 billion people are living in conditions of water stress or water scarcity.

Order by Fluctuation and Bifurcation: The creation of new and higher levels of quality, organization and complexity, Evolutionary Systems Theory COMPLEXITY Higher far of equilibrium Lower entropy Higher density of free energy flow Higher structural complexity Higher organization levels TIME Dynamic stability on level „n“ Introduction of fluctuations Source: E. Laszlo, E. Jantsch Evolution 2nd order jumping transition Breakdown, collapse Possible new levels (not realized yet)