Physics Nobel rewards work on complex systems, like climate

By DAVID KEYTON and SETH BORENSTEIN
Associated Press

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize for physics for work that found order in seeming disorder. They helped to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change. Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann were cited for their work in “the physical modeling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming.” The second half of the prize went to Giorgio Parisi for explaining disorder in physical systems ranging from those as small as the insides of atoms to the planet-sized. In the face of the challenges of climate change, Hasselmann told The Associated Press he would rather not have the prize — and not have global warming. All three scientists work on what are known as “complex systems.”