Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The understanding that the Earth is a complex system with many interwoven
feedback mechanisms is not new
Jacques-Joseph
É
belmen who in 1845 correctly
identi
ed fundamental process and factors affecting global biogeochemical cycles
(Berner 2012 ), Vladimir Vernadsky
s noosphere or the science of science (Winkler
2014 ), GAIA theory (Lovelock 1972 ), or
'
planet 1
'
Goldilocks
'
to name a few. At
any time, natural processes have determined the Earth
s climatic history. For
example various processes that have historically altered the Earth
'
'
s view, such as
the Milankovitch cycles in the Earth
s movements around the sun, various shifts in
Earth tectonic plates occurring over thousands of years, asteroid impacts on Earth or
volcanic eruptions have had strong natural effects on different time-scales on Earth.
Until the middle or later part of the 20th century scientists (natural/social) were
getting to grips with the details and methods in their own specialized
'
fields.
However, in the past decades, with increasing anthropogenic impact, there has been
a growing need to understand the interconnections and tele-connections between
the various parts of the Earth system. This is even more urgent since we are slowly
but steadily changing/in
uencing aspects of this system without fully understanding
the impacts and consequences. Dramatic increase in CO 2 and methane emissions,
excessive bio-geo resource exploitation, manifold increase in population, decreas-
ing biodiversity, changing land-use practices to name just a few changes.
Earth System Science (ESS) has been varying described as the
fl
the whole in the
sum of its parts (Victor Smetacek, per. comms) or an integrative super-discipline
that accepts that biophysical sciences and social sciences are equally important in
any attempts to understand the state, and future of the Earth System
(Pitman 2005 )
or
fields of academic study to understand the Earth as a
system and considers interaction between the various elements of the Earth
System
seeks to integrate various
. 2 The aim is to take a step back, not to focus on the details of the particular
part or subject or nuance but to understand the workings of the system as a whole.
For most scientists this is dif
cult since this implies an intrinsic degree of uncer-
tainty or not understanding a particular aspect or part of the system. For educators,
this is complicated since it is impossible to provide comprehensive ESS education
when there are large uncertainties in our understanding. Nevertheless, ESS pro-
grams at undergraduate levels were designed and started in the 90s (Love et al.
1993 ; Miall 1995 ; Ireton et al. 1996 ). Good examples of visionary programs are
those of Stanford or ETH, Zurich. In the early to mid 2000, graduate (MSc) and
PhD programs we being offered under the umbrella of ESS. ESSReS (Grosfeld
et al. 2013 ) was one of the few PhD schools, funded by the Helmholtz Association,
to embark on this holistic journey.
1 Goldilocks planet may be just right for life
space
25 April 2007
New Scientist. http://
www.newscientist.com/article/dn11710#.U-sd04CSwRo .
2
Earth System Science. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_system_science .
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