Earth system science

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

holistic
view of the interactions and transactions within and between biological and ecological systems.

Earth system science (ESS) is the application of

spheres and their many constituent subsystems fluxes and processes, the resulting spatial organization and time evolution of these systems, and their variability, stability and instability.[10][11][12] Subsets of Earth System science include systems geology[13][14] and systems ecology,[15] and many aspects of Earth System science are fundamental to the subjects of physical geography[16][17] and climate science.[18]

Definition

The

Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, offers the following description: "Earth System science embraces chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and applied sciences in transcending disciplinary boundaries to treat the Earth as an integrated system. It seeks a deeper understanding of the physical, chemical, biological and human interactions that determine the past, current and future states of the Earth. Earth System science provides a physical basis for understanding the world in which we live and upon which humankind seeks to achieve sustainability".[19]

Earth System science has articulated four overarching, definitive and critically important features of the Earth System, which include:

  1. Variability: Many of the Earth System's natural 'modes' and variabilities across space and time are beyond human experience, because of the stability of the recent Holocene. Much Earth System science therefore relies on studies of the Earth's past behaviour and models to anticipate future behaviour in response to pressures.
  2. Life: Biological processes play a much stronger role in the functioning and responses of the Earth System than previously thought. It appears to be integral to every part of the Earth System.
  3. Connectivity: Processes are connected in ways and across depths and lateral distances that were previously unknown and inconceivable.
  4. Non-linear: The behaviour of the Earth System is typified by strong non-linearities. This means that abrupt change can result when relatively small changes in a 'forcing function' push the System across a 'threshold'.

History

For millennia, humans have speculated how the physical and living elements on the surface of the Earth combine, with gods and goddesses frequently posited to embody specific elements. The notion that the Earth, itself, is alive was a regular theme of Greek philosophy and religion.[20]

Early scientific interpretations of the Earth system began in the field of

Earth's interior, planetary geology, living systems and Earth-like worlds
.

In many respects, the foundational concepts of Earth System science can be seen in the natural philosophy 19th century geographer Alexander von Humboldt.[23] In the 20th century, Vladimir Vernadsky (1863–1945) saw the functioning of the biosphere as a geological force generating a dynamic disequilibrium, which in turn promoted the diversity of life.

In parallel, the field of systems science was developing across numerous other scientific fields, driven in part by the increasing availability and power of computers, and leading to the development of climate models that began to allow the detailed and interacting simulations of the Earth's weather and climate.[24] Subsequent extension of these models has led to the development of "Earth system models" (ESMs) that include facets such as the cryosphere and the biosphere.[25]

In the 1980s, where a NASA committee called the Earth System Science Committee was formed in 1983. The earliest reports of NASA's ESSC, Earth System Science: Overview (1986), and the book-length Earth System Science: A Closer View (1988), constitute a major landmark in the formal development of Earth system science.[26] Early works discussing Earth system science, like these NASA reports, generally emphasized the increasing human impacts on the Earth system as a primary driver for the need of greater integration among the life and geo-sciences, making the origins of Earth system science parallel to the beginnings of global change studies and programs.

Climate science

Main article: Climate system
The dynamic interaction of the Earth's oceans, climatological, geochemical systems.

Climatology and climate change have been central to Earth System science since its inception, as evidenced by the prominent place given to climate change in the early NASA reports discussed above. The Earth's climate system is a prime example of an emergent property of the whole planetary system, that is, one which cannot be fully understood without regarding it as a single integrated entity. It is also a system where human impacts have been growing rapidly in recent decades, lending immense importance to the successful development and advancement of Earth System science research. As just one example of the centrality of climatology to the field, leading American climatologist Michael E. Mann is the Director of one of the earliest centers for Earth System science research, the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and its mission statement reads, "the Earth System Science Center (ESSC) maintains a mission to describe, model, and understand the Earth's climate system".[27]

Education

Earth System science can be studied at a postgraduate level at some universities, with notable programs at such institutions as the University of California, Irvine, Pennsylvania State University, and Stanford University. In general education, the

systems approach, the workshop report recommended that an Earth System science curriculum be developed with support from the National Science Foundation.[28] In 2000, the Earth System Science Education Alliance was begun, and currently includes the participation of 40+ institutions, with over 3,000 teachers having completed an ESSEA course as of fall 2009".[29]

See also

References

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  2. ISBN 978-0123793706
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  15. ISBN 9780198568469
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  16. ^ Pidwirny, Michael; Jones, Scott (1999–2015). "Physical Geography".
  17. ISBN 9780521764285
    .
  18. ISBN 9781139560542
    .
  19. ^ "Earth System Science in a Nutshell". Carleton College. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  20. ^ Tickell, Crispin (2006). "Earth Systems Science: Are We Pushing Gaia Too Hard?". 46th Annual Bennett Lecture - University of Leicester. London: University of Leicester. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  21. ^ Fielding H. Garrison, An introduction to the history of medicine, W.B. Saunders, 1921.
  22. ISBN 978-92-3-102719-2
    .
  23. S2CID 206518912. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  24. S2CID 38650354
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  26. PMID 23297237
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  27. ^ Mann, Michael. "Earth System Science Center". Penn State University. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  28. ^ "Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education". American Geophysical Union. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  29. ^ "Earth System Science Education Alliance". Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

External links

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