5 Earth System Science

So far, we have focused the majority of our discussion on the lithosphere. But there is so much more to our planet that interacts and reacts with continental and ocean crust. Let’s continue the exploration of Earth by looking at our planet as a collection of systems, of which the lithosphere is just one of these systems.

Are you fascinated with the video above? It is a visualization from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center showing that the Earth system is made up of diverse parts that interact in complex ways. While scientists learn a great deal from studying each of these parts individually, better observations and improved computer models help scientists to study the interactions between these interrelated parts, leading to new ideas about how the Earth system works—and how it might change in the future.

The idea of viewing Planet Earth as a system began in 1983, when the NASA Advisory Council established the Earth System Sciences Committee. This committee published a report in 1986 that stated the goal of Earth system science “is to obtain a scientific understanding of the entire Earth system on a global scale by describing how its component parts and their interactions have evolved, how they function, and how they may be expected to continue to evolve on all timescales” (p. 4). Although a motivation for thinking about Earth as a system came from the growing impact of humans and need to provide solutions, Mooney et al. (2013) calls attention to how the early studies like the NASA report did not include social drivers and their consequences for the changes that were occurring in Earth systems.

Moving forward to the present, you will discover that NASA continues to investigate Earth systems through the NASA Earth System Observatory, through the work of NASA’s climate scientists (also see NASA Climate Change), and more. NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL) “pursue a broad and comprehensive understanding of the many physical, chemical and biological processes that comprise the Earth system to better predict their behavior from minutes to millennia on local to global scales.” The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) also has a page on Earth systems and climate models. You will find additional agencies, organizations, institutions, and individuals working on the complex actions and interactions within and between Earth systems.

This video from the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) defines and explores the four main components of the Earth system, especially as they connect to the Earth Science Literacy Principles:

• Atmosphere
• Biosphere (and Anthrosphere, the human part)
• Hydrosphere (and Cryosphere, the frozen part)
• Lithosphere (also termed Geosphere)