Earth system science

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The Earth System Science (also: Earth System , Earth System Analysis . English earth system science , earth system analysis ) is an interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of the "system earth is concerned." The earth system is the sum of physical, chemical, biological and social components, processes and interactions that influence the state and changes on planet earth.

Research areas

In the context of earth system research, mainly global environmental changes are observed, analyzed and predicted, which include the interaction between land, atmosphere, water, ice, biosphere, societies, technologies and economy. Under global environmental changes changes in physical and biogeochemical environment are understood, either of natural origin or are influenced by human behavior. The latter include deforestation , the use of fossil fuels ( oil , coal, etc.), urbanization , land reclamation , intensive land use , drinking water production , overfishing and waste production .

Background and story

The emergence of earth system science was closely related to the development of space-based measuring devices for global and regional observation of the earth system since the 1960s. A central technological basis was also the continuous measurements of the carbon dioxide content in the earth's atmosphere by Charles Keeling since 1957, which made the connections between the atmosphere and the biosphere visible (see Keeling curve ).

An important theoretical background was the Gaia theory by James Lovelock from the 1960s, which describes the earth - viewed from space - as a single dynamic system that is far from thermodynamic equilibrium . The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis has been a pioneer of earth system science in Europe since 1972 , and a few scientists such as the geographer and mathematician Dieter Klaus (Institute of Geography at the University of Bonn) have been researching earth system science since the late 1970s. An important milestone in 1980 was the US study Global 2000 (study) , whose statements are based on complex global system models.

In 1983, NASA created the Earth System Sciences Committee , chaired by Francis Bretherton (Professor of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences at the University of Wisconsin and Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research ). The term Earth System Science was first used by Bretherton in a 1985 publication. Bretherton saw a central role in the development of mathematical models to at least approximate the subtle interactions and feedbacks that influence the earth system. He named remote sensing (e.g. with earth observation satellites ) as an important means of data acquisition . The Earth System Science: A Program For Global Change report, written in 1986 by NASA's Earth System Sciences Committee under the direction of Bretherton, describes the goals of Earth system research:

  1. worldwide measurements to understand the physical, chemical and biological processes in the evolution of the earth
  2. Documentation of global changes in the coming decades
  3. Predict future changes using quantitative models
  4. Summary of information in order to be able to react more effectively to the consequences of global changes.

This report led to the establishment of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). Another much-cited report by Bretherton appeared in 1988 under the title Earth System Science: A closer view.

Building on this, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber developed his concept of Earth System Analysis in connection with the conceptual planning of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in the early 1990s , which he later expanded.

In 2001, delegates from over 100 countries involved in the four major international research programs on global environmental change ( International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change , International Geosphere-Biosphere Program , World Climate Research Program, DIVERSITAS ) adopted the Amsterdam Declaration . This formally represented the establishment of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP).

In Germany, the Earth System Science Research Center was founded at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2008 . Since 2010 the University of Hohenheim has offered a master's degree in Earth System Science. The Technical University of Munich is offering an English-language master’s course “Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology” with three main areas of focus: Earth System Sciences, Remote Sensing and Navigation.

In Switzerland, the University of Zurich offers a bachelor's and master's degree in cooperation with the ETH Zurich . The compulsory courses in the bachelor’s program are usually held in German, the courses in the master’s program are usually in English.

literature

  • Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Paul J. Crutzen , William C. Clark, Martin Claussen, Hermann Held (Eds.): Earth System Analysis for Sustainability . MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, London, UK 2004, ISBN 0-262-19513-5 .
  • Will Steffen, Angelina Sanderson, Peter Tyson, Jill Jäger, Pamela Matson, Berrien Moore III, Frank Oldfield, Katherine Richardson , Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, BL Turner II, Robert J. Wasson: Global Change and the Earth System . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-540-40800-2 .
  • Walt V. Reid, Deliang Chen, Leah Goldfarb, Heide Hackmann, Yuan T. Lee , Khotso Mokhele, Elinor Ostrom , Kari Raivio, Johan Rockström , Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Anne Whyte: Earth System Science for Global Sustainability: Grand Challenges . In: Science . 330, No. 6006, 2010, pp. 916-917. doi : 10.1126 / science.1196263 .
  • Wrase, Katja I .: Earth system analysis. A four-dimensional fractal system comparison. 1. revised u. supplement. Edition d. Dissertation 2010. Grinverlag: 2015.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Rik Leemans et al .: Developing a common strategy for integrative global environmental change research and outreach: the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) . In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability . 1, No. 1, 2009, pp. 4-13. doi : 10.1016 / j.cosust.2009.07.013 .
  2. ↑ a b Simon J. Dadson: Geomorphology and earth system science. . In: Progress in Physical Geography . 34, No. 3, 2010, pp. 385-398. doi : 10.1177 / 0309133310365031 .
  3. ^ A b William C. Clark, Paul J. Crutzen, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: Science for Global Sustainability. Toward a New Paradigm . In: Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Paul J. Crutzen, William C. Clark, Martin Claussen, Hermann Held (Eds.): Earth System Analysis for Sustainability . MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, London, UK 2004, ISBN 0-262-19513-5 .
  4. ^ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: 'Earth system' analysis and the second Copernican revolution . In: Nature . 402 (Supplement), No. 6761, 1999, pp. C19-C23.
  5. ^ John Wainwright: Earth System Science . In: Noel Castree, David Demeritt, Diana Liverman, Bruce Rhoads (Eds.): A Companion to Environmental Geography . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK 2009, ISBN 978-1-4051-5622-6 .
  6. ↑ Earth Science: NASA's Mission to Our Home Planet . NASA . Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber : Discourse: Earth System Analysis - The Scope of the Challenge . In: Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Volker Wenzel (Ed.): Earth System Analysis: Integrating Science for Sustainability . Springer-Verlag , Berlin Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 978-3-642-52356-4 , p. 3–195 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-52354-0_1 ( PDF ).
  8. ^ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: 'Earth system' analysis and the second Copernican revolution . In: Nature . 402 (Supplement), No. 6761, 1999, pp. C19-C23.
  9. ↑ 2001 Amsterdam Declaration on Earth System Science . International Geosphere-Biosphere Program . Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ Not just since the volcanic eruption: The University of Hohenheim is starting an interdisciplinary master's on System Earth . Science information service . April 26, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ Earth Oriented Space Science & Technology. Technical University of Munich, Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, accessed on June 10, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Earth System Sciences. Think networked in the Earth system . University of Zurich, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Retrieved November 24, 2016.