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Earth system science

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Earth system science is the application of systems science to the Earth sciences.[1][2][3] In particular, it considers interactions between the spheres - atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, biosphere,[4] and, even, the heliosphere,[5] as well as the impact of human societies on these components.[6] At its broadest scale, Earth system science brings together researchers across both the natural and social sciences, from fields including ecology, economics, geology, glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, paleontology, sociology, and space science.[7] 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, the resulting organization and time evolution of these systems, and their self-regulating stability or instability.[8][9] 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.[10]

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.

Definition

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."[11]

Origins

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.[12] 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'.[13][14][15] He later named it the Gaia hypothesis (today often referred to as Gaia theory).[12] Lovelock subsequently further developed the theory with American evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis during the 1970s.[14][16]

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."[17] 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, 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.[18]

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.[14] 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 and Earth system science

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 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.”[19]

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.[20] 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."[21]

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.[22] 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.” [23][1] 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[24]. 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.”[25] 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.”[26]

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.”[27] 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.”[28]

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.[29] 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."[1]

Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change

The Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change (2001) [2], 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.”[30]


See also


References

  1. ^ a b Jacobson, Michael; et al. (2000). Earth System Science, From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Changes (2nd edition ed.). London: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0123793706. Retrieved 7 September 2015. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |first1= (help)
  2. ^ Kump, Lee; et al. (2004). The Earth System (2nd edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-142059-3. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first1= (help)
  3. ^ Christiansen, E.H.; Hamblin, W.K. (2014). Dynamic Earth. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
  4. ^ "Earth System Science". Classroom of the future. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  5. ^ Schwadron, N. A.; et al. (6 September 2011). "Does the Space Environment Affect the Ecosphere?" (PDF). Eos. 92 (36). American Geophysical Union: 297–301. doi:10.1029/2011eo360001.
  6. ^ Ehlers, Eckart; Moss, C.; Krafft, Thomas (2006). Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems. Springer Science+Business Media.
  7. ^ Butz, Stephen D. (2004). Science of Earth Systems. Thomson Learning.
  8. ^ Hergarten, Stefan (2002). Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems. Springer-Verlag.
  9. ^ Tsonis, Anastasios A.; Elsner, James B. (2007). Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences. Springer Science+Business Media.
  10. ^ Cornell, Sarah E.; Prentice, I. Colin; House, Joanna I.; Downy, Catherine J. (2012). Understanding the Earth System: Global Change Science for Application. Cambridge Univeristy Press.
  11. ^ "Earth System Science in a Nutshell". Carleton College. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  12. ^ a b 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.
  13. ^ Kasting first1=James. "The Gaia Hypothesis is Still Giving Us Feedback". Retrieved 25 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |last1= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ a b c Schneider, Stephen; Boston, Penelope (1992). "The Gaia Hypothesis and Earth System Science" (PDF). University of Florida. MIT Press. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  15. ^ Highfield, Roger. "Unlocking Lovelock, science's greatest maverick". The Telegraph. The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  16. ^ Gribbon, John and Mary (2009). James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  17. ^ NASA, 50th Anniversary Symposium: Seeking Signs of Life. "Opening Keynote - 'Exobiology in the Beginning'". livestream.com. Retrieved 7 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.1107484110. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  19. ^ Mann, Michael. "Earth System Science Center". Penn State University. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  20. ^ "Shaping the Future of Undergraduate Earth Science Education". American Geophysical Union. Retrieved 12 May 2009. [dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Earth System Science Education Alliance". Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  22. ^ NASA, 50th Anniversary Symposium: Seeking Signs of Life. "Opening Keynote - 'Exobiology in the Beginning'". livestream.com. Retrieved 7 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Tickell, Crispin. "Earth System Science: Gaia and the human impact". http://www.crispintickell.com/. Retrieved 25 July 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  24. ^ Lovelock, J. Margulis, L. (1974). "Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: the Gaia hypothesis". Tellus. 26 (1–2): 2-10. doi:10.1111/j.2153-3490.1974.tb01946.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Highfield, Roger. "Unlocking Lovelock, science's greatest maverick". The Telegraph. The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  26. ^ Gribbon, John and Mary (2009). James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  27. ^ Schellnhuber, Hans; et al. (2004). Earth System Analysis for Sustainability: Dahlem Workshop Reports. Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Freie Universitat Berlin. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |last1= (help)
  28. ^ Lovelock, James (2009). The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning. New York, NY: Basic Books.
  29. ^ Kump, Lee; et al. (2004). The Earth System (2nd edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 1–33. ISBN 0-13-142059-3. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first1= (help)
  30. ^ Tyrrell, Toby (2013). On Gaia: A Criticial Investigation of the Relationship Between Life and Earth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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