PreprintCC BY-NC-SA 4.0arXiv
Clarifying tipping terminology
Abstract
The notion of tipping points and related terminology have so far had inconsistent and sometimes confusing definitions in both scientific and popular literature. While it is difficult for the scientific community to align popular usage of the term tipping point with a precise definition, technical usage of related terms would benefit from greater consistency and rigor. Toward this end, we offer a systematic set of terms to clarify formal communication around potential tipping dynamics, with focus on examples from Earth system dynamics.
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BibTeX
@misc{boers2026clarifying,
title = {{Clarifying tipping terminology}},
author = {Niklas Boers and Robert E. Kopp and Peter Ashwin and Sebastian Bathiany and Maya Ben-Yami and Reyk Börner and Jofre Carnicer and Henk Dijkstra and Thomas L. Frölicher and Michael Ghil and Elisabeth Gilmore and Gabriele C. Hegerl and Laura Jackson and Shipra Jain and David Lapola and Timothy M. Lenton and Valerio Lucarini and Teng Liu and Virna L. Meccia and Andreas Morr and Anastasia Romanou and Thomas F. Stocker and Ricarda Winkelmann and Cunde Xiao and Shuting Yang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.14930},
eprint = {2610.14930},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14930},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Clarifying tipping terminology
AU - Niklas Boers
AU - Robert E. Kopp
AU - Peter Ashwin
AU - Sebastian Bathiany
AU - Maya Ben-Yami
AU - Reyk Börner
AU - Jofre Carnicer
AU - Henk Dijkstra
AU - Thomas L. Frölicher
AU - Michael Ghil
AU - Elisabeth Gilmore
AU - Gabriele C. Hegerl
AU - Laura Jackson
AU - Shipra Jain
AU - David Lapola
AU - Timothy M. Lenton
AU - Valerio Lucarini
AU - Teng Liu
AU - Virna L. Meccia
AU - Andreas Morr
AU - Anastasia Romanou
AU - Thomas F. Stocker
AU - Ricarda Winkelmann
AU - Cunde Xiao
AU - Shuting Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.14930
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14930
AB - The notion of tipping points and related terminology have so far had inconsistent and sometimes confusing definitions in both scientific and popular literature. While it is difficult for the scientific community to align popular usage of the term tipping point with a precise definition, technical usage of related terms would benefit from greater consistency and rigor. Toward this end, we offer a systematic set of terms to clarify formal communication around potential tipping dynamics, with focus on examples from Earth system dynamics.
ER -