Fig. 2 illustrates the proposed concept of stability in
relation to climate change. A system, which in the
‘good old days’ ( ‘1990’) was stable (high resistance
and resilience), loses stability owing to decreasing climatic
adaptedness of its organisms (populations) and
reduction in both physiological and evolutionary buffer
capacity. Resistance and resilience decrease, and the
system develops into a susceptible state (‘2040’, and
especially ‘2090’). Consequently perturbations, which