concept

Negative feedback

A loop in which a change triggers a response that opposes it, pulling the system back toward a stable state. This is the engine of all self-regulation: warm up and a cooling process kicks in, cool down and a warming one switches on. A household thermostat is the familiar case; the carbonate-silicate cycle holding Earth's climate is the planetary-scale one. Negative feedback is what makes a system stable and resilient - and its absence or failure is what turns a tipping point into a catastrophe. It is the opposite of positive feedback, which amplifies rather than damps.