Earth System Science Frontiers - an ECS perspective

Abstract

he exigencies of the global community towards Earth system science will increase in the future as population, economies and the human footprint on the planet continue to grow. This growth, combined with intensifying urbanisation, will inevitably exert increasing pressure on all ecosystem services. A unified interdisciplinary approach to Earth system science is required that can address this challenge, integrates technical demands and long-term visions, and reconciles user demands with scientific feasibility. Together with the research arms of the World Meteorological Organisation, the Young Earth System Scientists community has gathered early-career scientists from around the world to initiate a discussion about frontiers of Earth system science. To provide optimal information for society, Earth system science has to provide a comprehensive understanding of the physical processes that drive the Earth system as well as anthropogenic influences. This understanding will be reflected in seamless prediction systems for environmental processes that are robust and instructive to local users on all scales. Such prediction systems require improved physical process understanding, more high-resolution global observations, advanced modelling capability, as well as high performance computing on unprecedented scales. At the same time, the robustness and usability of such prediction systems also depend on deepening our understanding of the entire Earth system as well as improved communication between end-users and researchers. Earth system science is the fundamental baseline for understanding the Earth?s capacity to accommodate humanity, and provides a means to have a rational discussion about the consequences and limits of anthropogenic influence on the planet we live on. Without its progress, truly sustainable development will be impossible.