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This section describes systems thinking, the scientific method and mathematical models, the scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and graphing, mapping and analysis techniques.
One of the most important systems thinking concepts is that in nature there is no waste. Matter cycles through the earth’s systems, both the living and non-living systems, driven by energy from the sun. Living organisms evolve, cooperate, consume, and relate in complex webs of interactions before they die and are reabsorbed into other living systems. In developed human society, about half of what we produce turns into waste, much of which is altered in ways that make it impossible to return it to the natural environment without causing some kind of harm. In this, we are unique.
2.1 Thinking Systems
2.2 Scientific Method to Mathematical Models
