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Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere,^[5] geosphere, pedosphere, lithosphere, biosphere,^[6] and even the magnetosphere^[7]—as well as the impact of human societies on these components.^[8] At its broadest scale, Earth system science brings together researchers across both the natural and social sciences, from fields including ecology, economics, geography, geology, glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, climatology, paleontology, sociology, and space science.^[9] Like the broader subject of systems science, Earth system science assumes a holistic view of the dynamic interaction between the Earth's 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:

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.
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.
Connectivity: Processes are connected in ways and across depths and lateral distances that were previously unknown and inconceivable.
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 geology, initially in the Middle East^[21] and China,^[22] and largely focused on aspects such as the age of the Earth and the large-scale processes involved in mountain and ocean formation. As geology developed as a science, understanding of the interplay of different facets of the Earth system increased, leading to the inclusion of factors such as the 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

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]

The five components of the climate system all interact. They are the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere.^[28]^: 1451

Earth's climate system is a complex system with five interacting components: the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere (living things).^[28]^: 1451 Climate is the statistical characterization of the climate system.^[28]^: 1450 It represents the average weather, typically over a period of 30 years, and is determined by a combination of processes, such as ocean currents and wind patterns.^[29]^[30] Circulation in the atmosphere and oceans transports heat from the tropical regions to regions that receive less energy from the Sun. Solar radiation is the main driving force for this circulation. The water cycle also moves energy throughout the climate system. In addition, certain chemical elements are constantly moving between the components of the climate system. Two examples for these biochemical cycles are the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

The climate system can change due to internal variability and external forcings. These external forcings can be natural, such as variations in solar intensity and volcanic eruptions, or caused by humans. Accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly being emitted by people burning fossil fuels, is causing climate change. Human activity also releases cooling aerosols, but their net effect is far less than that of greenhouse gases.^[28]^: 1451 Changes can be amplified by feedback processes in the different climate system components.

Education

Earth System science can be studied at a postgraduate level at some universities. In general education, the American Geophysical Union, in cooperation with the Keck Geology Consortium and with support from five divisions within the National Science Foundation, convened a workshop in 1996, "to define common educational goals among all disciplines in the Earth sciences". In its report, participants noted that, "The fields that make up the Earth and space sciences are currently undergoing a major advancement that promotes understanding the Earth as a number of interrelated systems". Recognizing the rise of this systems approach, the workshop report recommended that an Earth System science curriculum be developed with support from the National Science Foundation.^[31]

In 2000, the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) was begun, and currently includes the participation of 40+ institutions, with over 3,000 teachers having completed an ESSEA course as of fall 2009".^[32]

Related concepts

The concept of earth system law (still in its infancy as per 2021) is a sub-discipline of earth system governance, itself a subfield of earth system sciences analyzed from a social sciences perspective.^[33]

References

^ Stanley, Steven M. (2005). Earth System History. Macmillan. ISBN 9780716739074.
^ Jacobson, Michael; et al. (2000). Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes (2nd ed.). London: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0123793706. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
^ Kump, Lee; et al. (2004). The Earth System (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-142059-5.
^ Christiansen, E.H.; Hamblin, W.K. (2014). Dynamic Earth. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9781449659028.
^ Harris, Charles; Murton, Julian B. (2005). Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost. Geological Society of London. ISBN 9781862391758.
^ Cockell, Charles (28 February 2008). An Introduction to the Earth-Life System. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521493918.
^ Ohtani, Shin-ichi; Fujii, Ryoichi; Hesse, Michael; Lysak, Robert L. (2000). Magnetospheric Current Systems. American Geophysical Union. ISBN 9780875909769.
^ Ehlers, Eckart; Moss, C.; Krafft, Thomas (2006). Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9783540265900.
^ Butz, Stephen D. (2004). Science of Earth Systems. Thomson Learning. ISBN 978-0766833913.
^ Hergarten, Stefan (2002). Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783540434528.
^ Tsonis, Anastasios A.; Elsner, James B. (2007). Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9780387349183.
^ Neugebauer, Horst J.; Simmer, Clemens (2003). Dynamics of Multiscale Earth Systems. Springer. ISBN 9783540417965.
^ Merritts, Dorothy; De Wet, Andrew; Menking, Kirsten (1998). Environmental Geology: An Earth System Science Approach. W. H. Freeman. ISBN 9780716728344.
^ Martin, Ronald (2011). Earth's Evolving Systems: The History of Planet Earth. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9780763780012.
^ Wilkinson, David M. (2006). Fundamental Processes in Ecology: An Earth Systems Approach. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198568469.
^ Pidwirny, Michael; Jones, Scott (1999–2015). "Physical Geography".
^ Marsh, William M.; Kaufman, Martin M. (2013). Physical Geography: Great Systems and Global Environments. Cambridege University Press. ISBN 9780521764285.
^ Cornell, Sarah E.; Prentice, I. Colin; House, Joanna I.; Downy, Catherine J. (2012). Understanding the Earth System: Global Change Science for Application. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139560542.
^ "Earth System Science in a Nutshell". Carleton College. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
^ 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.
^ Fielding H. Garrison, An introduction to the history of medicine, W.B. Saunders, 1921.
^ Asimov, M. S.; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (eds.). The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century : The Achievements. History of civilizations of Central Asia. pp. 211–214. ISBN 978-92-3-102719-2.
^ Jackson, Stephen T. (2009). "Alexander von Humboldt and the General Physics of the Earth" (PDF). Science. 324 (5927): 596–597. doi:10.1126/science.1171659. PMID 19407186. S2CID 206518912. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
^ Edwards, P.N. (2010). "History of climate modelling" (PDF). Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. 2: 128–139. doi:10.1002/wcc.95. hdl:2027.42/79438. S2CID 38650354.
^ Washington, W.M.; Buja, L.; Craig, A. (2009). "The computational future for climate and Earth system models: on the path to petaflop and beyond". Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. A. 367 (1890): 833–846. Bibcode:2009RSPTA.367..833W. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0219. PMID 19087933.
^ Mooney, Harold; et al. (26 February 2013). "Evolution of natural and social science interactions in global change research programs". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (Supplement 1, 3665–3672): 3665–3672. Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.3665M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1107484110. PMC 3586612. PMID 23297237.
^ Mann, Michael. "Earth System Science Center". Penn State University. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d IPCC, 2013: Annex III: Glossary [Planton, S. (ed.)]. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
^ "Climate systems". climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "Earth's climate system". World Ocean Review. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
^ "Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education". American Geophysical Union. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
^ "Earth System Science Education Alliance". Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ Petersmann, Marie-Catherine (2021). "Sympoietic thinking and Earth System Law: The Earth, its subjects and the law". Earth System Governance. 9: 100114. doi:10.1016/j.esg.2021.100114. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

External links

Media related to Earth system science at Wikimedia Commons
Earth system science at Nature.com

[1] Stanley, Steven M. (2005). Earth System History. Macmillan. ISBN 9780716739074.

[jacobson2000-2] Jacobson, Michael; et al. (2000). Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes (2nd ed.). London: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0123793706. Retrieved 7 September 2015.

[3] Kump, Lee; et al. (2004). The Earth System (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-142059-5.

[4] Christiansen, E.H.; Hamblin, W.K. (2014). Dynamic Earth. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9781449659028.

[5] Harris, Charles; Murton, Julian B. (2005). Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost. Geological Society of London. ISBN 9781862391758.

[6] Cockell, Charles (28 February 2008). An Introduction to the Earth-Life System. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521493918.

[7] Ohtani, Shin-ichi; Fujii, Ryoichi; Hesse, Michael; Lysak, Robert L. (2000). Magnetospheric Current Systems. American Geophysical Union. ISBN 9780875909769.

[8] Ehlers, Eckart; Moss, C.; Krafft, Thomas (2006). Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9783540265900.

[9] Butz, Stephen D. (2004). Science of Earth Systems. Thomson Learning. ISBN 978-0766833913.

[10] Hergarten, Stefan (2002). Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783540434528.

[11] Tsonis, Anastasios A.; Elsner, James B. (2007). Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9780387349183.

[12] Neugebauer, Horst J.; Simmer, Clemens (2003). Dynamics of Multiscale Earth Systems. Springer. ISBN 9783540417965.

[13] Merritts, Dorothy; De Wet, Andrew; Menking, Kirsten (1998). Environmental Geology: An Earth System Science Approach. W. H. Freeman. ISBN 9780716728344.

[14] Martin, Ronald (2011). Earth's Evolving Systems: The History of Planet Earth. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9780763780012.

[15] Wilkinson, David M. (2006). Fundamental Processes in Ecology: An Earth Systems Approach. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198568469.

[16] Pidwirny, Michael; Jones, Scott (1999–2015). "Physical Geography".

[17] Marsh, William M.; Kaufman, Martin M. (2013). Physical Geography: Great Systems and Global Environments. Cambridege University Press. ISBN 9780521764285.

[18] Cornell, Sarah E.; Prentice, I. Colin; House, Joanna I.; Downy, Catherine J. (2012). Understanding the Earth System: Global Change Science for Application. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139560542.

[19] "Earth System Science in a Nutshell". Carleton College. Retrieved 10 March 2009.

[Tickell-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] Asimov, M. S.; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (eds.). The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century : The Achievements. History of civilizations of Central Asia. pp. 211–214. ISBN 978-92-3-102719-2.

[23] Jackson, Stephen T. (2009). "Alexander von Humboldt and the General Physics of the Earth" (PDF). Science. 324 (5927): 596–597. doi:10.1126/science.1171659. PMID 19407186. S2CID 206518912. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

[edwards2010-24] Edwards, P.N. (2010). "History of climate modelling" (PDF). Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. 2: 128–139. doi:10.1002/wcc.95. hdl:2027.42/79438. S2CID 38650354.

[washington2009-25] Washington, W.M.; Buja, L.; Craig, A. (2009). "The computational future for climate and Earth system models: on the path to petaflop and beyond". Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. A. 367 (1890): 833–846. Bibcode:2009RSPTA.367..833W. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0219. PMID 19087933.

[26] Mooney, Harold; et al. (26 February 2013). "Evolution of natural and social science interactions in global change research programs". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (Supplement 1, 3665–3672): 3665–3672. Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.3665M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1107484110. PMC 3586612. PMID 23297237.

[27] Mann, Michael. "Earth System Science Center". Penn State University. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[Climate_system_:0-28] IPCC, 2013: Annex III: Glossary [Planton, S. (ed.)]. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

[29] "Climate systems". climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

[30] "Earth's climate system". World Ocean Review. Retrieved 13 October 2019.

[31] "Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education". American Geophysical Union. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2009.

[32] "Earth System Science Education Alliance". Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[33] Petersmann, Marie-Catherine (2021). "Sympoietic thinking and Earth System Law: The Earth, its subjects and the law". Earth System Governance. 9: 100114. doi:10.1016/j.esg.2021.100114. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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+{{Short description|Scientific study of the Earth's spheres and their natural integrated systems}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2011}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
+[[File:Genomics GTL Program Payoffs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|An ecological analysis of {{chem|C|O|2}} in an [[ecosystem]]. As [[systems biology]], [[systems ecology]] seeks a [[holistic]] view of the interactions and transactions within and between biological and ecological systems.]]
+'''Earth system science''' ('''ESS''') is the application of [[systems science]] to the [[Earth science|Earth]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Earth System History|last=Stanley |first=Steven M. |publisher= Macmillan|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jd01mugCR7EC|isbn=9780716739074 }}</ref><ref name="jacobson2000">{{cite book|last1=Jacobson|first1=Michael|title=Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes|date=2000|publisher=Elsevier Academic Press|location=London|isbn=978-0123793706|edition=2nd|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=85YkdAm5tdoC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA52.w.5.0.135|access-date=7 September 2015|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kump|first1=Lee|title=The Earth System|date=2004|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New Jersey|isbn=978-0-13-142059-5|display-authors=etal|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last2=Hamblin |first2=W.K. |last1=Christiansen |first1=E.H. |title=Dynamic Earth |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KEUoAwAAQBAJ&q=Dynamic+Earth+Hamblin |year=2014 |publisher= Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=9781449659028 }}</ref> In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—[[atmosphere]], [[hydrosphere]], [[cryosphere]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost |first1=Charles |last1=Harris |first2=Julian B. |last2=Murton |publisher=Geological Society of London|year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0KswTI39l8C&q=Cryospheric+Systems:+Glaciers+and+Permafrost|isbn=9781862391758 }}</ref> [[geosphere]], [[pedosphere]], [[lithosphere]], [[biosphere]],<ref>{{cite book|title=An Introduction to the Earth-Life System|first=Charles |last=Cockell|publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95omVa4NRHIC|isbn=9780521493918 |date=2008-02-28 }}</ref> and even the [[magnetosphere]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Magnetospheric Current Systems|first1= Shin-ichi |last1=Ohtani |first2=Ryoichi |last2=Fujii |first3=Michael |last3=Hesse |first4=Robert L. |last4=Lysak |publisher=American Geophysical Union|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkuzsHT_U7sC&q=Magnetospheric+Current+Systems|isbn= 9780875909769 }}</ref>—as well as the impact of human societies on these components.<ref>{{cite book|title=Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems|year=2006|first1=Eckart |last1=Ehlers|first2=C. |last2=Moss|first3=Thomas |last3=Krafft|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Id3Z5XTcOWgC&q=Earth+System+Science+in+the+Anthropocene:+Emerging+Issues+and+Problems|isbn=9783540265900}}</ref> At its broadest scale, Earth system science brings together researchers across both the [[natural science|natural]] and [[social science|social]] sciences, from fields including [[ecology]], [[economics]], [[geography]], [[geology]], [[glaciology]], [[meteorology]], [[oceanography]], [[climatology]], [[paleontology]], [[sociology]], and [[space science]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Butz|first=Stephen D.|title=Science of Earth Systems|year=2004|publisher=Thomson Learning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JB4ArbvXXDEC|isbn=978-0766833913}}</ref> Like the broader subject of [[systems science]], Earth system science assumes a [[holism in science|holistic view]] of the dynamic interaction between the Earth's [[Outline of earth science#Earth's spheres|spheres]] and their many constituent subsystems fluxes and processes, the resulting [[Self-organization|spatial organization]] and time evolution of these systems, and their variability, stability and instability.<ref>{{cite book |title=Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems |last= Hergarten |first=Stefan |year=2002 |publisher=Springer-Verlag|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBZbupdVnYAC&q=editions:XHdrTJ13cowC|isbn= 9783540434528 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tsonis|first1=Anastasios A.|last2=Elsner|first2=James B.|title=Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DLT_oqrs2gC&q=%22Nonlinear+Dynamics+in+Geosciences%22|isbn=9780387349183}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Dynamics of Multiscale Earth Systems |first1= Horst J. |last1=Neugebauer |first2=Clemens |last2=Simmer|publisher=Springer |year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_y0Tg6KjbAC&q=editions:v80ZkcBaS6wC|isbn= 9783540417965 }}</ref> Subsets of Earth System science include [[systems geology]]<ref>{{cite book |first1=Dorothy |last1=Merritts |first2=Andrew |last2=De Wet |first3=Kirsten |last3=Menking |title=Environmental Geology: An Earth System Science Approach |publisher=W. H. Freeman |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOdfzBxgZGMC&q=systems+geology|isbn=9780716728344 }}
+</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Earth's Evolving Systems: The History of Planet Earth |first=Ronald |last=Martin |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agaOKrvAoeAC&q=%22earth+systems%22+geology|isbn=9780763780012 }}</ref> and [[systems ecology]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=David M.|title=Fundamental Processes in Ecology: An Earth Systems Approach|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFGWHyRyzBwC&q=Fundamental+Processes+in+Ecology:+An+Earth+Systems+Approach|isbn=9780198568469}}</ref> and many aspects of Earth System science are fundamental to the subjects of [[physical geography]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Physical Geography|first1=Michael |last1=Pidwirny |first2=Scott |last2=Jones|url=http://www.physicalgeography.net|year=1999–2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Physical Geography: Great Systems and Global Environments |first1=William M. |last1=Marsh |first2=Martin M.|last2=Kaufman |publisher=Cambridege University Press |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF3aJSC20yMC&q=physical+geography+system|isbn=9780521764285 }}</ref> and [[Climatology|climate science]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding the Earth System: Global Change Science for Application |first1=Sarah E. |last1=Cornell |first2=I. Colin |last2= Prentice |first3=Joanna I. |last3=House |first4=Catherine J. |last4=Downy|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J14gAwAAQBAJ&q=Understanding+the+Earth+System:+Global+Change+Science+for+Application&pg=PP1|isbn=9781139560542 }}</ref>
+==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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/earthsystem/nutshell/|title=Earth System Science in a Nutshell|publisher=[[Carleton College]] |access-date=2009-03-10}}</ref>
+Earth System science has articulated four overarching, definitive and critically important features of the Earth System, which include:
-'''Earth system science''' is the application of [[systems science]] to the [[Earth sciences]].<ref name="jacobson2000">{{cite book|last1=Jacobson|first1=Michael, et al|title=Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes|date=2000|publisher=Elsevier Academic Press|location=London|isbn=978-0123793706|edition=2nd edition|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=85YkdAm5tdoC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA52.w.5.0.135|accessdate=7 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kump|first1=Lee, et al|title=The Earth System (2nd edition)|date=2004|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New Jersey|isbn=0-13-142059-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last2=Hamblin |first2=W.K. |last1=Christiansen |first1=E.H. |title=Dynamic Earth |url= https://books.google.fr/books?id=KEUoAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dynamic+Earth+Hamblin&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAmoVChMIvLOFlo37xwIVA7UaCh3GFAC8#v=onepage&q=Dynamic%20Earth%20Hamblin&f=false |year=2014 |publisher= Jones & Bartlett Learning}}</ref> In particular, it considers interactions between the spheres -  [[atmosphere]], [[hydrosphere]], [[cryosphere]], [[geosphere]], [[biosphere]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cotf.edu/ete/ESS/ESSmain.html|title=Earth System Science|publisher=[[Classroom of the future]] |accessdate=2009-03-10}}</ref> and, even, the [[heliosphere]],<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Schwadron | first = N. A. | title = Does the Space Environment Affect the Ecosphere? | journal=Eos | volume = 92 | issue = 36 | pages = 297–301 | publisher=[[American Geophysical Union]] | date = 6 September 2011 | url =  http://www.agu.org/journals/eo/eo1136/2011EO360001.pdf#anchor | doi=10.1029/2011eo360001|display-authors=etal}}</ref> as well as the impact of human societies on these components.<ref>{{cite book|title=Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems|year=2006|first1=Eckart |last1=Ehlers|first2=C. |last2=Moss|first3=Thomas |last3=Krafft|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|url=https://books.google.fr/books?id=Id3Z5XTcOWgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Earth+System+Science+in+the+Anthropocene:+Emerging+Issues+and+Problems&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIt7meuNCAyAIVi3AaCh070w9I#v=onepage&q=Earth%20System%20Science%20in%20the%20Anthropocene%3A%20Emerging%20Issues%20and%20Problems&f=false}}</ref> At its broadest scale, Earth system science brings together researchers across both the [[natural science|natural]] and [[social science|social]] sciences, from fields including [[ecology]], [[economics]], [[geology]], [[glaciology]], [[meteorology]], [[oceanography]], [[paleontology]], [[sociology]], and [[space science]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Butz|first=Stephen D.|title=Science of Earth Systems|year=2004|publisher=Thomson Learning|url=https://books.google.fr/books?id=JB4ArbvXXDEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Stephen+D.+Butz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAGoVChMI_texhtL4xwIVyzsaCh2dlA2U#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> Like the broader subject of [[systems science]], Earth system science assumes a [[Holism in science|holistic view]] of the dynamic interaction between the Earth's [[Outline_of_earth_science#Earth.27s_spheres|spheres]] and their many constituent subsystems, the resulting [[Self-organization|organization]] and time evolution of these systems, and their self-regulating stability or instability.<ref>{{cite book |title=Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems |last= Hergarten |first=Stefan |year=2002 |publisher=Springer-Verlag|url=https://books.google.fr/books?id=eBZbupdVnYAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:XHdrTJ13cowC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAGoVChMI0LjM6Nf4xwIViwoaCh2dSg6J#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tsonis|first1=Anastasios A.|last2=Elsner|first2=James B.|title=Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |year=2007|url=https://books.google.fr/books?id=-DLT_oqrs2gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Nonlinear+Dynamics+in+Geosciences%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAGoVChMI3IbAttf4xwIVB5caCh2cNwiS#v=onepage&q=%22Nonlinear%20Dynamics%20in%20Geosciences%22&f=false}}</ref> Subsets of Earth system science include [[systems geology]], and [[systems ecology]], and many aspects of Earth system science are fundamental to the subjects of [[physical geography]] and [[climate science]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Understanding the Earth System: Global Change Science for Application |first1=Sarah E. |last1=Cornell |first2=I. Colin |last2= Prentice |first3=Joanna I. |last3=House |first4=Catherine J. |last4=Downy|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge Univeristy Press|url=https://books.google.fr/books?id=J14gAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1&dq=Understanding+the+Earth+System:+Global+Change+Science+for+Application&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAGoVChMIgprzzcyAyAIVRb0aCh3JPwnj#v=onepage&q=Understanding%20the%20Earth%20System%3A%20Global%20Change%20Science%20for%20Application&f=false}}</ref>
+# 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.
-[[File:Genomics_GTL_Program_Payoffs.jpg|thumb|420px||An ecological analysis of CO-2 in an [[ecosystem]]. As [[systems biology]], [[systems ecology]] seeks a [[holistic]] view of the interactions and transactions within and between biological and ecological systems.]]
+# 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.
+# Connectivity:  Processes are connected in ways and across depths and lateral distances that were previously unknown and inconceivable.
+# 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 '[[Planetary boundaries|threshold]]'.
-==Definition==
+== 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.<ref name="Tickell">{{cite news |last=Tickell |first=Crispin |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/ebulletin-archive/ebulletin/features/2000-2009/2006/11/nparticle.2006-11-20.html |title=Earth Systems Science: Are We Pushing Gaia Too Hard? |work= 46th Annual Bennett Lecture - University of Leicester |location=London |publisher=University of Leicester |year=2006 |access-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref>
+Early scientific interpretations of the Earth system began in the field of [[geology]], initially in the Middle East<ref>Fielding H. Garrison, ''An introduction to the history of medicine'', W.B. Saunders, 1921.</ref> and China,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century : The Achievements |series=History of civilizations of Central Asia |editor1-first=M. S. |editor1-last=Asimov |editor2-first=Clifford Edmund |editor2-last=Bosworth |isbn=978-92-3-102719-2 |pages=211–214}}</ref> and largely focused on aspects such as the [[age of the Earth]] and the large-scale processes involved in [[Mountain formation|mountain]] and [[Origin of water on Earth|ocean]] formation. As [[History of geology|geology developed as a science]], understanding of the interplay of different facets of the Earth system increased, leading to the inclusion of factors such as the [[Structure of the Earth|Earth's interior]], [[Formation and evolution of the Solar System|planetary geology]], [[Biosphere|living systems]] and [[Earth analog|Earth-like worlds]].
-The [[Science Education Resource Center]], [[Carleton College]], offers the following description, suggestive of the potential for Earth system science to serve as a unifying bedrock for much of science education as a whole: "Earth system science embraces chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and applied sciences in transcending disciplinary boundaries to treat the Earth as an integrated system and 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/earthsystem/nutshell/|title=Earth System Science in a Nutshell|publisher=[[Carleton College]] |accessdate=2009-03-10}}</ref>
+In many respects, the foundational concepts of Earth System science can be seen in the natural philosophy 19th century geographer [[Alexander von Humboldt]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Science |title=Alexander von Humboldt and the General Physics of the Earth |first=Stephen T. |last=Jackson |year=2009 |volume=324 |issue=5927 |pages=596–597 |doi=10.1126/science.1171659 |pmid=19407186 |s2cid=206518912 |url=http://faculty.jsd.claremont.edu/dmcfarlane/bio176mcfarlane/pdf%20papers/Humboldt%20hsitory.pdf |access-date=11 November 2015 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412023559/http://faculty.jsd.claremont.edu/dmcfarlane/bio176mcfarlane/pdf%20papers/Humboldt%20hsitory.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.
-== Origins ==
+In parallel, the field of [[systems science]] was developing across numerous other scientific fields, driven in part by the increasing availability and [[Computer performance|power]] of [[computer]]s, and leading to the development of [[climate model]]s that began to allow the detailed and interacting [[numerical weather prediction|simulation]]s of the Earth's [[weather]] and [[climate]].<ref name=edwards2010>{{cite journal |last=Edwards |first=P.N. |year=2010 |title=History of climate modelling |journal=Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change |volume=2 |pages=128–139 |doi=10.1002/wcc.95 |hdl=2027.42/79438 |s2cid=38650354 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79438/1/95_ftp.pdf |hdl-access=free }}</ref> 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.<ref name=washington2009>{{cite journal |last1=Washington |first1=W.M. |last2=Buja |first2=L. |last3=Craig |first3=A. |year=2009 |title=The computational future for climate and Earth system models: on the path to petaflop and beyond |journal=Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. A |volume=367 |issue= 1890|pages=833–846 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2008.0219 |pmid=19087933 |bibcode=2009RSPTA.367..833W |doi-access=free }}</ref>
-For centuries, humans have wondered and examined how the physical and living elements on the surface of the Earth combine. Gods and goddesses were seen to embody specific elements, and the notion that the Earth itself was alive came up regularly in Greek philosophy and religion.<ref name="Tickell">{{cite news |last=Tickell |first=Crispin |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/ebulletin-archive/ebulletin/features/2000-2009/2006/11/nparticle.2006-11-20.html |title=Earth Systems Science: Are We Pushing Gaia Too Hard? |work= 46th Annual Bennett Lecture - University of Leicester |location=London |publisher=University of Leicester |date=2006 |accessdate=2015-09-21 }}</ref> 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. But it was [[James Lovelock]] in the mid-1960s who first postulated   [[feedback]] mechanisms in the Earth system, into what he called the 'Earth Feedback hypothesis'.<ref>{{cite web| last1=Kasting first1=James| title=The Gaia Hypothesis is Still Giving Us Feedback| url=http://nautil.us/issue/12/feedback/the-gaia-hypothesis-is-still-giving-us-feedback| accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="Schneider 1992">{{cite web |url=http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/GAIA_hypothesis.pdf |format=PDF |title=The Gaia Hypothesis and Earth System Science |last=Schneider |first=Stephen |last2=Boston |first2=Penelope |work=University of Florida |publisher=MIT Press |date=1992 |accessdate=2015-09-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last1=Highfield| first1=Roger| title=Unlocking Lovelock, science's greatest maverick| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10735286/Unlocking-James-Lovelock-sciences-greatest-maverick.html| website=The Telegraph| publisher=The Telegraph| accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref> He later named it the [[Gaia hypothesis]] (today often referred to as Gaia theory).<ref name="Tickell"/> Lovelock subsequently further developed the theory with American evolutionary theorist [[Lynn Margulis]] during the 1970s.<ref name="Schneider 1992"/><ref>{{cite book| last1=Gribbon| first1=John and Mary| title=James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia| date=2009| publisher=Princeton University Press| location=Princeton, NJ}}</ref>
-NASA's Director for Planetary Science, James Green, noted in October 2010, "Dr. Lovelock and Dr. Margulis played a key role in the origins of what we now know as Earth system science."<ref>{{cite web|last1=NASA|first1=50th Anniversary Symposium: Seeking Signs of Life|title=Opening Keynote - 'Exobiology in the Beginning'|url=http://original.livestream.com/astrobiology50th/video?clipId=pla_89adff36-bad9-43a2-b416-29a41cb9fab1|website=livestream.com|accessdate=7 September 2015}}</ref> As an integrative field, Earth system science (ESS) assumes the histories of a vast range of scientific disciplines, but as a discrete study it evolved in the 1980s, particularly at [[NASA]], where a committee called the Earth System Science Committee was formed in 1983.  The earliest reports of NASA's ESSC, [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112104410706;view=1up;seq=3 ''Earth System Science: Overview''] (1986), and the book-length [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vj4rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Earth System Science: A Closer View''] (1988), constitute a major landmark in the formal development of Earth system science.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Mooney| first1=Harold| title=Evolution of natural and social science interactions in global change research programs| journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| date=February 26, 2013| volume= 110| issue =  Supplement 1, 3665-3672| pages=3665–3672| doi=10.1073/pnas.1107484110| url=http://www.pnas.org/content/110/Supplement_1/3665.full| accessdate=7 September 2015| display-authors=etal}}</ref>
+In the 1980s, where a [[NASA]] committee called the Earth System Science Committee was formed in 1983. The earliest reports of NASA's ESSC, [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112104410706;view=1up;seq=3 ''Earth System Science: Overview''] (1986), and the book-length [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vj4rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173 ''Earth System Science: A Closer View''] (1988), constitute a major landmark in the formal development of Earth system science.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Mooney| first1=Harold| title=Evolution of natural and social science interactions in global change research programs| journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| date=26 February 2013| volume= 110| issue = Supplement 1, 3665–3672| pages=3665–3672| doi=10.1073/pnas.1107484110| display-authors=etal| pmid=23297237| pmc=3586612| bibcode=2013PNAS..110.3665M| doi-access=free}}</ref> 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 ==
-Earth system science is not entirely equivalent to the Gaia hypothesis, although both take an interdisciplinary approach to studying systems operations on a planetary-scale.<ref name="Schneider 1992"/> 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.
+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".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mann|first1=Michael|title=Earth System Science Center|url=http://www.essc.psu.edu/|publisher=Penn State University|access-date=25 July 2015}}</ref>
-== Climate science and Earth system science ==
-[[File:Ocean_&_Earth_System.jpg|thumb|left|350px|The dynamic interaction of the Earth's [[ocean]]s, [[climate|climatological]], [[Geochemical cycle|geochemical systems]].]]
+{{excerpt|Climate system}}
-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 which cannot be understood without regarding it as a single integrated entity. It is also a property of the 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.”<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mann|first1=Michael|title=Earth System Science Center|url=http://www.essc.psu.edu/|publisher=Penn State University|accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref>
 == Education ==
-Earth system science can be studied at a postgraduate level at some universities, with notable programs at such institutions as the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. In general education, the [[American Geophysical Union]], in cooperation with the [[Keck Geology Consortium]] and with support from five divisions within the [[National Science Foundation]], convened a workshop in 1996, "to define common educational goals among all disciplines in the Earth sciences." In its report, participants noted that, "The fields that make up the Earth and space sciences are currently undergoing a major advancement that promotes understanding the Earth as a number of interrelated systems." Recognizing the rise of this [[systems approach]], the workshop report recommended that an Earth system science curriculum be developed with support from the National Science Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/spheres/intro.htm|title=Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education|publisher=American Geophysical Union|accessdate=2009-05-12}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|title=Earth System Science Education Alliance|url=http://essea.strategies.org/background.html|accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref>
+Earth System science can be studied at a postgraduate level at some universities. In general education, the [[American Geophysical Union]], in cooperation with the [[Keck Geology Consortium]] and with support from five divisions within the [[National Science Foundation]], convened a workshop in 1996, "to define common educational goals among all disciplines in the Earth sciences". In its report, participants noted that, "The fields that make up the Earth and space sciences are currently undergoing a major advancement that promotes understanding the Earth as a number of interrelated systems". Recognizing the rise of this [[systems approach]], the workshop report recommended that an Earth System science curriculum be developed with support from the National Science Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/spheres/intro.htm |title=Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education |publisher=American Geophysical Union |access-date=2009-05-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916214004/http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/spheres/intro.htm |archive-date=16 September 2008 }}</ref>
-== Relationship to Gaia theory ==
-While most scientists conducting research in the many disciplines contributing knowledge of the Earth system do not study or  think about Gaia theory, the Gaia hypothesis nevertheless played a key role in the founding of Earth system science, as Dr. James Green, NASA's Director for Planetary Science, has noted.<ref>{{cite web|last1=NASA|first1=50th Anniversary Symposium: Seeking Signs of Life|title=Opening Keynote - 'Exobiology in the Beginning'|url=http://original.livestream.com/astrobiology50th/video?clipId=pla_89adff36-bad9-43a2-b416-29a41cb9fab1|website=livestream.com|accessdate=7 September 2015}}</ref> Some, like Sir Crispin Tickell, have seen Gaia and the Earth system as synonymous: for example, Tickell will speak of “the mechanisms by which Gaia, or the Earth System, regulates itself.” <ref>{{cite web|last1=Tickell|first1=Crispin|title=Earth System Science: Gaia and the human impact|url=http://www.crispintickell.com/page123.html|website=http://www.crispintickell.com/|accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref>[http://www.crispintickell.com/page123.html] But more broadly a strong kinship between them has been widely noted, as the Gaia hypothesis stated, at least a decade before Earth system science existed, that the Earth self-regulates as the result of feedback loops, an emergent property of the physical environment and life together, making it the first notable application of systems science to the Earth<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lovelock, J. Margulis, L.|title=Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: the Gaia hypothesis|journal=Tellus|date=1974|volume=26|issue=1-2|page=2-10|doi=10.1111/j.2153-3490.1974.tb01946.x}}</ref>. Others have put the debt Earth system science owes to Gaia theory more bluntly, such as Roger Highfield, writing in the ''Telegraph'' about a 2014-2015 exhibition devoted to Lovelock at the London Museum of Science, stating simply, “with Gaia, Earth system science was born.”<ref>{{cite web|last1=Highfield|first1=Roger|title=Unlocking Lovelock, science's greatest maverick|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10735286/Unlocking-James-Lovelock-sciences-greatest-maverick.html|website=The Telegraph|publisher=The Telegraph|accessdate=25 July 2015}}</ref> Still others have suggested that use of the term "Earth system" is largely one of avoidance, of finding a more neutral name to avoid the hated metaphor Gaia: for example, John Gribbon has written that, “most scientists couldn’t bring themselves to use the name Gaia, preferring Earth System Science.”<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gribbon|first1=John and Mary|title=James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia|date=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ}}</ref>
-In ''Earth System Analysis for Sustainability'', a workshop report edited by leading German climatologist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen and others, Chapter 2 states, while discussing the Earth system and Gaia: “Much of the apparent disagreement over Gaia can be seen as a disagreement about how to talk about the system rather than a more fundamental discrepancy between  the theoretical frameworks used to understand it.”<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schellnhuber et al|first1=Hans|title=Earth System Analysis for Sustainability: Dahlem Workshop Reports|date=2004|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Freie Universitat Berlin}}</ref> Lovelock himself, in ''The Vanishing Face of Gaia'',  wrote that “Earth system science arose from Gaia theory,” but nevertheless has also sought to distinguish his theory from "ESS", both by considering the more academically acceptable and neutral version of his idea “boring,” and by saying that ESS differs from Gaia theory by "refusing to see habitability as the goal for the self-regulation of the Earth’s climate and chemistry.”<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lovelock|first1=James|title=The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning|date=2009|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York, NY}}</ref>
-Some textbooks used in university-level Earth system science curricula underscore the interrelationship between Earth system science and Gaia theory, while others do not. For example, ''The Earth System'' (by Kump, Kasting and Crane) has an opening chapter, ''Global Change'', which defines the field and culminates in a description of the Gaia hypothesis. Chapter 2,  entitled ''Daisyworld: An Introduction to Systems'', introduces the student to system science mechanisms through Lovelock’s Daisyworld, a model world developed by Lovelock to refute neo-Darwinist criticisms of Gaia theory.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kump|first1=Lee, et al|title=The Earth System (2nd edition)|date=2004|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New Jersey|isbn=0-13-142059-3|pages=1–33}}</ref> One of the first textbooks developed in the field, ''Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes'' (Jacobson et al), specifically takes up the contentious topic of Gaia theory's critics. After noting in the first chapter (section 1.2) that, "The Gaia hypothesis was put forward by Lovelock together with Lynn Margulis (Lovelock and Margulis, 1974) to provide a single scientific basis for integrating all components of the Earth system," the authors specifically note the origins of much of the controversy over Gaia theory: "The earliest version of Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis contained phrases like 'by and for the biosphere,' which implied a sense of purposefulness on the part of the biota to evolve in ways that would suit its own continued existence. As the Gaia hypothesis has evolved, the interdependence of the evolution of biota and geophysical/geochemical systems is described in non-teleological terms."<ref name="jacobson2000">{{cite book|last1=Jacobson|first1=Michael, et al|title=Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes|date=2000|publisher=Elsevier Academic Press|location=London|isbn=978-0123793706|edition=2nd edition|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=85YkdAm5tdoC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA52.w.5.0.135|accessdate=7 September 2015}}</ref>
-== Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change ==
-The Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change (2001) [http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/ecology/gaiadeclar.pdf], signed by more than 1,000 scientists under the aegis of the United Nations and thus representing the highest level of scientific consensus, is a significant document for Earth system science and Gaia theory. Key points of the Amsterdam Declaration are: Human activities are significantly altering Earth's environment, and these impacts are accelerating and are already equal to the great forces of nature; Global change cannot be understood in simple terms of cause and effect, making prediction of future impacts very difficult to predict; Earth System processes are characterized by thresholds and tipping points; and the Earth is already in a no-analogue state, "well outside the range of the natural variability exhibited over the last half million years at least."
-The Declaration also states at its outset, “The Earth system behaves as a single self-regulating system.” Even Toby Tyrrell, prominent critic of Gaia theory, noted in his book's opening chapter how, “The wording could have been lifted from one of Lovelock’s books,” and also said that this Declaration highlighted, “the degree to which Gaia has been accepted by a large part of the scientific community, including those in its higher echelons.”<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tyrrell|first1=Toby|title=On Gaia: A Criticial Investigation of the Relationship Between Life and Earth|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton}}</ref>
+In 2000, the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) was begun, and currently includes the participation of 40+ institutions, with over 3,000 teachers having completed an ESSEA course as of fall 2009".<ref>{{cite web|title=Earth System Science Education Alliance|url=http://essea.strategies.org/background.html|access-date=25 July 2015|archive-date=22 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922165412/http://essea.strategies.org/background.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
+== Related concepts ==
+The concept of ''earth system law'' (still in its infancy as per 2021) is a sub-discipline of [[earth system governance]], itself a subfield of earth system sciences analyzed from a social sciences perspective.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petersmann |first=Marie-Catherine |date=2021 |title=Sympoietic thinking and Earth System Law: The Earth, its subjects and the law |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2589811621000185 |journal=Earth System Governance |language=en |volume=9 |pages=100114 |doi=10.1016/j.esg.2021.100114|doi-access=free}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]</ref>
 == See also ==
-{{Portal|Earth sciences|Systems science}}
+{{Portal|Earth sciences|Ecology|Geography|Global warming|Systems science|Weather}}
+{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
-* [[Earth science]]
+* {{annotated link|Earth science}}
+* {{annotated link|Earth system governance}}
-* [[Global change]]
+* {{annotated link|Earth System Science Partnership}}
-* [[Gaia theory]]
+* {{annotated link|Earth systems engineering and management}}
-* [[Systems Geology]]
-* [[Earth's spheres|Ecosphere]]
+* {{annotated link|Earth's spheres|Ecosphere}}
-* [[Geosphere]]
+* {{annotated link|Geosphere}}
+* {{annotated link|Global change}}
+* {{annotated link|Planetary boundaries}}
+* {{annotated link|Systems geology}}
+{{div col end}}
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
-== References ==
+==External links==
+*{{Commonscatinline}}
-{{reflist|2}}
+*[https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-019-0005-6 Earth system science] at Nature.com
 {{Systems}}
@@ Line 60: / Line 65: @@
 [[Category:Earth system sciences| ]]
 [[Category:Global natural environment]]
+[[Category:Complex systems theory]]