Scientists Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi have won the 2021 Nobel prize for physics for their “ground-breaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems”, the award-giving body says.

“Complex systems are characterised by randomness and disorder and are difficult to understand,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

“This year’s prize recognises new methods for describing them and predicting their long-term behaviour.”

The prestigious prize is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($A1.57 million).

Syukuro Manabe – awarded the 2021 #NobelPrize in Physics – demonstrated how increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lead to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. His work laid the foundation for the development of current climate models. pic.twitter.com/jOZEnOSxGV

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2021

Dr Manabe, 90, has US citizenship.

Professor Parisi is Italian and Professor Hasselmann is German.

Physics is the second Nobel to be awarded this week after Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the prize for medicine on Monday for the discovery of receptors in the skin that sense temperature and touch.

Giorgio Parisi – awarded this year’s #NobelPrize in Physics – discovered hidden patterns in disordered complex materials. His discoveries are among the most important contributions to the theory of complex systems. pic.twitter.com/ggdbuauwcY

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2021

The Nobel prizes were created in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901 with only a handful of interruptions, primarily due to the two world wars.

As last year, there will be no banquet in Stockholm because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The laureates will receive their medals and diplomas in their home countries.

2021 #NobelPrize laureate Klaus Hasselmann created a model that links together weather and climate. His methods have been used to prove that the increased temperature in the atmosphere is due to human emissions of carbon dioxide. pic.twitter.com/lWcGrm9SDW

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2021

The physics prize announcement will be followed in coming days by the awards for chemistry, literature, peace and economics.

Among the Nobels, physics has often taken centre stage, with awards often going to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.

Previous winners include Albert Einstein and the husband-and-wife team of Pierre and Marie Curie.

Last year, scientists Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez won the Nobel physics prize for their discoveries concerning black holes.

-Reuters