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-Introducing our Planet-
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Earth is Whole One of humanity's major discoveries is that we live on a round planet. We laugh about the idea that Earth is flat. Yet, we ourselves are in the midst of an even greater change in how to understand our planet. And most of us don't know about it. When we realized that Earth is round, we learned how the places on our planet are physically connected to each other. We discovered that if we kept traveling in one direction, we would not fall off the edge. Instead we could go in a circle and return to our starting place. That was an important discovery for our ancestors. Now we are learning something much more important than how the places on our planet are physically connected. We are discovering how Earth works as a whole system. Earth is not flat. Earth is much more than round. Earth is whole. "Earth is Whole" means that all the planet's physical features and living organisms are interconnected. They work together in important and meaningful ways. The clouds, oceans, mountains, volcanoes, plants, bacteria and animals all play important roles in determining how our planet works. Scientists have established a new field of science called Earth systems science to study an discover how all these parts work together. Earth systems scientists combine the tools and ideas from many scientific disciplines including geology, biology, chemistry, physics and computer science. In addition, they use modern technologies to measure key features of our planet, such as the concentration of gases in the atmosphere and the temperature of the ocean in many locations. Satellites orbiting our planet provide enormous amounts of data that Earth systems scientists use to try to understand how our planet works and what kinds of changes are happening. Of course, human beings do more than study and measure planet Earth. Just like any other organism, we are part of this whole Earth system. More importantly, we now have a very challenging new role to play. For the first time in our history, we can dramatically change the way the planet works as a whole. There are so many of us and we have such powerful technologies that we can change Earth's climate, destroy its ozone shield and dramatically alter the number and kinds of other organisms that share the planet with us. Over the past five years, I have developed a method of explaining Earth systems science to my family, friends, co-workers, teachers, and students. I also perform a show where I use scientific demonstrations and audience participation to introduce the three Earth systems science principles that are featured in this book. My experience is that people enjoy learning about Earth systems science, and they feel they get a better perspective on how our planet works and what they can do as local and global citizens. Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth helps answer one of the most important questions of the twenty-first centry: Can all of us live well on our planet without damaging the whole Earth system? To answer this question, we need to understand how our planet works. That sounds much more complicated than discovering that Earth is round. Earth systems science can explain many of the most important features of how our planet works. |