Science Alert  July 30, 2021 In many cases, abrupt changes arise from slow changes in one component of the Earth system that eventually pass a critical threshold after which impacts cascade through coupled climate–ecological–social systems. The geological record provides the only long-term information we have on the conditions and processes that can drive physical, ecological, and social systems into new states or organizational structures that may be irreversible within human time frames. An international team of researchers (Germany, USA – Oregon State University, University Wisconsin, Arizona State University Tempe, UMass Amherst, Columbia University, USGS, University of Colorado, Northern Arizona University, […]