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Critical transition
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<p>Critical transitions are abrupt shifts in the state of <a href="/facts/Ecosystem/kVE8mSmR">ecosystems</a>, the <a href="/facts/Climate/f57XrNFU">climate</a>, financial and economic systems or other <a href="/facts/Complex_system/eGG3B1nn">complex</a> <a href="/facts/Dynamical_systems/782gREl5">dynamical systems</a> that may occur when changing conditions pass a critical or <a href="/facts/Bifurcation_theory/sLsN54Rn">bifurcation point</a>. As such, they are a particular type of <a href="/facts/Regime_shift/yNz4E3Mk">regime shift</a>. Recovery from such shifts may require more than a simple return to the conditions at which a transition occurred, a phenomenon called <a href="/facts/Hysteresis/9M2pwR62">hysteresis</a>. In addition to natural systems, critical transitions are also studied in psychology, medicine, economics, sociology, military, and several other disciplines. </p>