The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Syukuro Manabe, 90, and Klaus Hasselmann, 89, for their work in “the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability, and reliably predicting global warming.” They will each receive a quarter of the 10 million kronor prize money (£840,000). The other half of the prize goes to Giorgio Parisi, 73, for “the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems, from atomic to planetary scales.”
The work of the three physicists can be described broadly as describing and predicting 'complex systems', such as Earth’s climate. These systems have many interdependent factors that cause what appear to be random and disordered behaviour.