To an extent, negative feedback loops let the Earth’s climate recover from small changes. Runaway climate change Image: US Geological Survey, Collapsed permafrost block of coastal tundra on Alaska’s Arctic Coast, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Here are just a few examples of important feedback loops. Something in a negative feedback loop might behave like this over time: If you stretch a spring, then it becomes more tense – when you let go, that tension shortens the spring again. For example, when you sit on a swing and kick yourself away from the centre, gravity brings you back towards the centre. If you made a graph of how something in a positive feedback loop behaves over time, it might look like this:Ī negative feedback loop, in contrast, means that a change in a system weakens itself – therefore, negative feedback loops tend to return a system to its original state. Positive feedback loops tend to change a system away from its original state – first slowly, then rapidly.
Similarly, because bacteria can reproduce by splitting in two, the total number of bacteria increases only slowly when there are few bacteria, and faster when there are more bacteria. For example, think of a landslide: one rock falling can knock two others out of place, which in turn dislodge many other rocks until the whole hillside is on the move. Feedback loops can be either positive or negative.Ī positive feedback loop means that a change in a system reinforces itself.
What are feedback loops?Ī feedback loop is a mathematical way of describing how something behaves over time. Here’s what feedback loops are and why they are vital for understanding today’s world and designing the future. You can find feedback loops almost everywhere, from nuclear power stations to viral videos, and they are particularly relevant to sustainability, the economy, and society. If you’ve ever been on a swing, or triggered a deafening squeal from a speaker by putting it too close to the microphone, then you’ve witnessed a feedback loop in action.
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