The climate system can undergo sudden, rapid, and drastic changes that exceed human tolerance. Once a tipping point is triggered, it may set off a chain reaction, much like a domino effect, propelling the Earth's climate system toward another tipping point, thereby amplifying the impact of climate change and potentially causing large-scale disasters or even catastrophic devastation across climate, human, and biological systems. Therefore, understanding climate-ecological abrupt changes and implementing adaptive adjustments are crucial to addressing climate change.

At present, the response of ecosystems to climate change and extreme events, as well as their capacity to cope with sudden ecological changes, have become the cutting edge of international academic research, attracting continuous attention and spawning new research opportunities. The theme of “climate-ecological abrupt change” involves a wide range of disciplines, including modern climatology, paleoclimatology, ecology, geology, geography, mathematical and physical sciences, and information science. It is an interdisciplinary frontier field. From a scientific perspective, research on climate-ecological abrupt changes involves interdisciplinary integration, which helps deepen the understanding of global climate change and promotes the study of the evolutionary characteristics of the Earth's complex systems. Strategically, this research can ensure the scientific basis for China's climate change policies and socio-economic decision-making, enhance China's ability to adapt to and combat climate change, and foster the development of predictive and early warning technologies that support socio-economic development.

Research on climate-ecological abrupt changes involves multi-scale, multi-level, and multi-method approaches. Regarding temporal scale, the field of climate and ecological changes spans a broad temporal domain from seasonal, interannual, decadal to centennial and even geological time scales. Spatially, it encompasses different scales ranging from river basins to regions and the globe. The large span of spatial and temporal scales is a prominent feature of this field, with elements at different scales interacting and responding to each other, which further increases the complexity of research. Research methods at different scales vary and exhibit a trend of cross-integration and increasing complexity.

Based on the principles of scientific rigor fundamental importance, and practical feasibility, the key scientific issues and core technological problems in the field of “climate-ecological abrupt changes” revolve around the logic of “spatial-temporal process of resilience change - tipping point and mechanism of abrupt changes - scientific identification of abrupt changes - early warning and prediction.” These include:

1. What are the patterns of abrupt changes in climate and ecosystems at different spatial and temporal scales, especially the interactions among various elements during these abrupt changes?

2. What are the cascading effects and remote coupling relationships between abrupt changes at different spatial and temporal scales?

3. How can we quantify the changes in system resilience and tipping points to reveal the characteristics and patterns of abrupt changes in the system?

4. How can we effectively integrate short-term monitoring data with paleoenvironmental data, and combine this with multi-disciplinary research methods such as model simulation, to quantitatively determine the tipping points and resilience of climate-ecological abrupt changes at different spatial and temporal scales?

5. How can we thoroughly reveal the driving mechanisms of linear gradual changes and nonlinear abrupt changes in the system, especially clarifying the system’s response mechanisms?

6. What is the process of abrupt changes in the system under the long-term interaction of multiple driving forces?

7. How can we clarify the feedback and mutual feedback relationships among different climate-ecological systems, especially the changes in positive and negative feedback mechanisms during long-term variations?

8. How can we accurately identify the critical elements of the Earth's system and determine their tipping points?

9. How can we identify the key critical elements in China and reveal their mechanisms of abrupt changes? How can we assess the current system's risk of abrupt changes?

10. How can we scientifically predict the risks of future climate and ecological abrupt change events and implement corresponding measures?

11. How can we establish the tipping points and boundary ranges of different ecosystems under the drivers of climate and human activities, as well as the ecological safety space of typical systems?

12. How can we respond to climate-ecological abrupt changes?

13. How can we leverage the positive impacts of abrupt changes and mitigate the negative impacts?

Finally, the report outlines safeguard measures to promote research on climate-ecological abrupt changes in the following two aspects:

First, data observation platforms and technologies: Establish long-term and stable data observation platforms, enhance the deployment of observation systems, develop “space-air-ground-sea” integrated monitoring technologies, and construct a foundational database for climate-ecological abrupt changes.

Second, academic discipline development and talent cultivation: Promote the integration of disciplines such as climatology, ecology, and geology, cultivate strategic and tactical scientists as well as promising young talent, strengthen international cooperation, and initiate global research programs.