The Green Marble: Earth System Science and Global Sustainability

David Turner

Published by Columbia University Press 2018

The Green Marble

Earth System Science and Global Sustainability

David Turner

https://doi.org/10.7312/turn18060

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this concise and accessible text, David P. Turner presents an overview of global environmental change and a synthesis of research from earth system science and sustainability science. It provides a framework for understanding human impact on the environment for anyone interested in our current predicaments and what we can do about them.

Author information

Turner David :

David P. Turner is a Professor of Global Environmental Change at Oregon State University. He is co-editor of a recent book on ecological modeling (Bachelet and Turner 2015, Wylie). After receiving a Masters degree at the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. at Washington State University, he worked for 10 years on global change issues with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He teaches a graduate course in Global Environmental Change for the on-line Masters in Natural Resources graduate program at OSU.David P. Turner is a research professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University.

Reviews

Steven Running, Emeritus Regents Professor of Ecology, University of Montana:
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.

Herman H. Shugart, W.W. Corcoran Professor of Natural History, University of Virginia:
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.

Ruth DeFries, Denning Professor of Sustainable Development, Columbia University:
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.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
List of Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
1. EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. EARTH’S GEOSPHERE, BIOSPHERE, AND CLIMATE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
3. THE EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4. TECHNOSPHERE IMPACTS ON THE GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
5. TECHNOSPHERE IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
6. SCENARIOS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
7. GLOBALIZATION AND ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
8. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
9. GLOBAL MONITORING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
10. INTEGRATING SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
11. KEY CONCEPTS FOR A NEW PLANETARY PARADIGM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Lexicon of the Spheres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 20

eBook

Published: September 24, 2018
ISBN: 9780231542845