William White contributed to a “Math for complex climate challenges workshop” held at the University of Waterloo from May 1 to May 4. He pointed out that there were many deficiencies in our global efforts to mitigate climate change. Not only were there shortcomings in identifying what we should do, but the adequacy of our capacity and willingness to act were also in doubt. White concluded by referring to a still broader problem identified in a a recent paper from the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University. It calls for more research on the steps needed to avoid a polycrisis; namely, the likelihood that a number of the systems required to support human life and civilization might all fail in a cascade of “tipping points”.
FieldsWaterlooPaperMay2023PDFhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeZh1Qew9Lc