The idea of considering the Earth as a global thermodynamic system has been around for some time and has provided more or less fruitful results. One of these being the maximum entropy production principle (MEP). Though debated and slightly out of fashion, the theory may provide some interesting insights on how to approach the problem.

Nathaniel Virgo happens to have worked on this for a few years and agreed to give us a semi-skeptical overview of the theory (thermodynamics 101 required). The main point of this working seminar is to give us a better understanding of the type of theory MEP is, and kickstart discussion on how to build from it within ELSI.