The Green Marble: Earth System Science and Global Sustainability

From 4.5 billion years of Earth history to the future of civilization, The Green Marble provides a broad sweep of humanity’s interwoven dependence on the planet’s elegant biogeochemical cycles and self-regulating feedbacks that maintain a climate suitable for life. Anyone interested in the Earth’s life support system will find a wealth of deep insights into the emerging field of Earth system science. -- Ruth DeFries, Denning Professor of Sustainable Development, Columbia University The Green Marble introduces earth systems as spheres: the noösphere formed when human actions attained a sufficient magnitude to alter the planet, the biosphere or the total life on Earth, the hydrosphere, the technosphere. David P. Turner interweaves planetary systems, large-scale human actions, and the risk of global system failures in this rich text to provide a readable, systems-oriented, intellectually rich narrative on understanding the deep global issues that we face today. -- Herman H. Shugart, W.W. Corcoran Professor of Natural History, University of Virginia This book takes us on a journey around the biosphere at all scales, from cellular details of photosynthesis to global biome distributions, and in time, from four billion years ago as life began to thousands of years into the future with a changing climate. It is exceedingly rare for a single text to cover the natural and social sciences on global environmental change and to take the intellectual risk of offering big solutions. The end result is a very readable book that should catalyze the type of thought-provoking class discussions all good teachers desire. -- Steven Running, Emeritus Regents Professor of Ecology, University of Montana The challenge presented in this book is to acknowledge the role of humans in Earth's future and in potential strategies to sustain it. Recommended. * Choice *