System Dynamics
A modelling discipline built from stocks, flows, delays, and feedback loops.
Why it matters now
Its central insight is that delay plus accumulation produces overshoot. Carbon is a stock while emissions are a flow, and confusing the two is the most consequential arithmetic error of the age. Emissions can fall while concentration rises, which is why net zero and not merely reduction is the target.
Where this is happening on Earth
- North AmericaJay Forrester, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFounded the field and built the first world models.
- North AmericaDonella Meadows and the Limits to Growth studyIdentified leverage points in systems and produced scenarios whose broad shape has held up well.
- EuropeBathtub experiments on carbon stocks and flows, Norway and GermanyRepeated studies show even expert audiences misread accumulation, which shapes how climate is communicated.
- AsiaGroundwater stock modelling in the North China PlainExplicit stock accounting revealed decades of drawdown hidden by stable annual extraction.
- AfricaLake Victoria fishery stock and flow modelsSeparating standing biomass from catch rates changed how quotas were set.
The idea itself
The encyclopedia entry first, then live searches at journals and magazines that keep returning current work on this specific idea.
Current reporting from around the world
Standing feeds at reputable periodicals. These stay fresh on their own, which is why they are here instead of a list of articles that would be out of date within a season.