The technical non-reproducibility of the Earth system: Scale, Biosphere 2, and T.C. Boyle’s Terranauts

2021 ◽  
pp. 205301962110489
Author(s):  
Philip Hüpkes ◽  
Gabriele Dürbeck
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Autonomous System ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Biosphere 2 ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Scientific Infrastructure

The Anthropocene concept draws on a technologically mediated macroscale, allegedly all-encompassing perspective on the interconnectedness of planetary, social and cultural systems. It is thus part of a genealogy traceable to systems thinking and cybernetic imaginaries of planetary-scale controllability; but at the same time, it relies on a techno-scientific infrastructure that is part of the accumulation of technical entities which Peter Haff calls “technosphere.” This oscillation between technology as a means of control and as an autonomous system that is inaccessible to sensual experience constitutes a theoretical challenge. Responding to this challenge, we combine Haff’s “technosphere” theory with a focus on the aspect of scale and the environmental character of technology. We discuss the Biosphere 2 experiment and its literary reflection in T.C. Boyle’s novel The Terranauts (2016) as an example of an attempted lower-scale technological reproduction of the Earth system. We show that the experiment suggests that technology has to be conceived as both scale variant (its functions differ across scales) and independent from its scale (as always already constituted by its respective environment).

The role of the Microbial Conveyor Belt on Earth´s system resilience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Mestre ◽  
Juan Höfer
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Conveyor Belt ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Microbial Biogeography ◽  
The Earth ◽  
System Resilience ◽  
Global Biogeochemical Cycles

<p>Despite being major players on the global biogeochemical cycles, microorganisms are generally not included in holistic views of Earth’s system. The Microbial Conveyor Belt is a conceptual framework that represents a recurrent and cyclical flux of microorganisms across the globe, connecting distant ecosystems and Earth compartments. This long-range dispersion of microorganisms directly influences the microbial biogeography, the global cycling of inorganic and organic matter, and thus the Earth system’s functioning and long-term resilience. Planetary-scale human impacts disrupting the natural flux of microorganisms pose a major threat to the Microbial Conveyor Belt, thus compromising microbial ecosystem services. Perturbations that modify the natural dispersion of microorganisms are, for example, the modification of the intensity/direction of air fluxes and ocean currents due to climate change, the vanishing of certain dispersion vectors (e.g., species extinction or drying rivers) or the introduction of new ones (e.g., microplastics, wildfires). Transdisciplinary approaches are needed to disentangle the Microbial Conveyor Belt, its major threats and their consequences for Earth´s system resilience.</p>

scholarly journals Earth’s Complexity Is Non-Computable: The Limits of Scaling Laws, Nonlinearity and Chaos

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Sergio Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Scaling Laws ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Numerical Algorithms ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Response Dynamics ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Gaia Hypothesis ◽  
The Earth

Current physics commonly qualifies the Earth system as ‘complex’ because it includes numerous different processes operating over a large range of spatial scales, often modelled as exhibiting non-linear chaotic response dynamics and power scaling laws. This characterization is based on the fundamental assumption that the Earth’s complexity could, in principle, be modeled by (surrogated by) a numerical algorithm if enough computing power were granted. Yet, similar numerical algorithms also surrogate different systems having the same processes and dynamics, such as Mars or Jupiter, although being qualitatively different from the Earth system. Here, I argue that understanding the Earth as a complex system requires a consideration of the Gaia hypothesis: the Earth is a complex system because it instantiates life—and therefore an autopoietic, metabolic-repair (M,R) organization—at a planetary scale. This implies that the Earth’s complexity has formal equivalence to a self-referential system that inherently is non-algorithmic and, therefore, cannot be surrogated and simulated in a Turing machine. I discuss the consequences of this, with reference to in-silico climate models, tipping points, planetary boundaries, and planetary feedback loops as units of adaptive evolution and selection.

The orbital technosphere: The provision of meaning and matter by satellites

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Gärdebo ◽  
Agata Marzecova ◽  
Scott Gabriel Knowles
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Human Survival ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Epistemological Basis

With a new ‘technosphere’ concept, Peter Haff offers a provocative reconceptualization of technology in Anthropocene, not as derivative consequence of human activity, but as a new ‘quasi-autonomous’ sphere of the environment that conditions human survival within the Earth System. Paying attention to the expansion of the orbital satellites in outer space, this paper suggests that technosphere analysis needs to conceptualize specific histories of the planetary-scale technology while considering how these technologies provide the epistemological basis and limitations for the technosphere. Satellites enhance the capacity of the technosphere as a system and provide systemic knowledge that is the basis for the meaning of the technosphere concept. Yet, this expansion is rooted in the contingencies of earthly geopolitics and the continual breakdown of technology – in this instance as a space debris layer formed in orbit around Earth that endangers the technosphere itself.

scholarly journals Advancing Research for Seamless Earth System Prediction

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. E23-E35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo M. Ruti ◽  
Oksana Tarasova ◽  
Julia H. Keller ◽  
Greg Carmichael ◽  
Øystein Hov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Earth System ◽  
Successful Development ◽  
Earth System Science ◽  
System Science ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Systems Models ◽  
Observing Systems

Abstract Whether on an urban or planetary scale, covering time scales of a few minutes or a few decades, the societal need for more accurate weather, climate, water, and environmental information has led to a more seamless thinking across disciplines and communities. This challenge, at the intersection of scientific research and society’s need, is among the most important scientific and technological challenges of our time. The “Science Summit on Seamless Research for Weather, Climate, Water, and Environment” organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 2017, has brought together researchers from a variety of institutions for a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas relating to seamless Earth system science. The outcomes of the Science Summit, and the interactions it sparked, highlight the benefit of a seamless Earth system science approach. Such an approach has the potential to break down artificial barriers that may exist due to different observing systems, models, time and space scales, and compartments of the Earth system. In this context, the main future challenges for research infrastructures have been identified. A value cycle approach has been proposed to guide innovation in seamless Earth system prediction. The engagement of researchers, users, and stakeholders will be crucial for the successful development of a seamless Earth system science that meets the needs of society.

Towards a green water planetary boundary

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Wang-Erlandsson ◽  
Ruud van der Ent ◽  
Arie Staal ◽  
Miina Porkka ◽  
Arne Tobian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
System Functioning ◽  
Operating Space

<p>Green water - soil moisture, evaporation, and precipitation over land - is fundamental to safeguard Earth system functioning. Nonlinear green-water driven changes in climate, ecosystems, biogeochemistry, and hydrology are becoming increasingly evident and widespread. Yet, considerations of continental to planetary scale green-water dynamics are yet to be assessed and incorporated in management and governance. Here, we propose a green water planetary boundary (PB) - as part of the planetary boundary framework that demarcates a global “safe-operating space” for humanity - for assessing green-water related changes that can affect the capacity of the Earth system to remain in Holocene-like conditions. We consider green-water related processes associated with all scales: spatially distributed units, regions or biomes, and the Earth system as a whole. The proposed green water PB variable is selected through expert elicitation based on a set of transparent evaluation criteria that consider both scientific and governability aspects. Finally, we clarify the appropriate use of a green water PB, outline remaining challenges, and propose a research agenda for future navigation and quantitative assessments of the biophysical Earth system scale boundaries of green water changes.</p>

scholarly journals Taming Gaia 2.0: Earth system law in the ruptured Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
pp. 205301962110267
Author(s):  
Rakhyun E Kim
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Tipping Points ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Earth System ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Earth System Governance ◽  
The Earth

If the Anthropocene is a rupture in planetary history, what does it mean for international environmental law? When the Earth System crosses irreversible tipping points and begins a forceful, nonlinear transformation into a hostile state which I call the ruptured Anthropocene, the concept of protecting the global environment from humans would lose its meaning. Not only the dichotomy between humans and nature becomes irrelevant, but the environment itself will no longer exist as an object for protection. I argue that, for international environmental law to stay relevant in the ruptured Anthropocene, it needs to shift away from its traditional focus on restoring the planetary past, and instead play an active role in the making of planetary futures. Its new purpose will need to be active planetary stewardship, whereby humans add self-awareness for deliberate self-regulation of the Earth System. Such an attempt at ‘taming’ the so-called Gaia 2.0 will, however, create winners and losers, and the new form of law will have to address fundamental questions of justice on a planetary scale. Building on the concept of earth system law emerging in the earth system governance literature, I draw the contours of international environmental law 2.0 for the ruptured Anthropocene and discuss the challenges of instituting active planetary stewardship.

Medianatures

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
Jussi Parikka
Keyword(s):  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Visual Technologies

The article outlines the concept of medianatures. The term is a neologism and in debt to Donna Haraway’s rather eloquent and important coinage naturecultures that already functioned to mark the constant co-becomings of supposedly separated spheres of nature and culture. Medianatures is a further elaboration that elaborates the tie between the earth materialities that are mobilized for technological infrastructures, visual technologies, applications and devices, and the onto- epistemological stance that then feeds back into understanding those planetary scale earth materialities in the first place: the techniques of vision, observation, calculation, and circulation that are part of the governance of the earth and its various localities.

Editorial: Fire in the Earth System

PAGES news ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Whitlock ◽  
Willy Tinner
Keyword(s):  
Earth System ◽  
The Earth
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