Moon Base and Problems of Global Changes on the Earth

2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 27-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Morozhenko ◽  
Anatoliy P. Vidmachenko
Keyword(s):  
Global Changes ◽  
The Earth

Geoethics as global ethics to face grand challenges for humanity

2020 ◽  
pp. SP508-2020-146
Author(s):  
Silvia Peppoloni ◽  
Giuseppe Di Capua
Keyword(s):  
Professional Ethics ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Global Ethics ◽  
Reference Framework ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Sharing Values ◽  
Ocean Mining ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

AbstractGeoethics is not simply professional ethics. Originally, it was developed in the context of geosciences to increase the awareness of geoscientists to their cultural and social role, but over time expanded to define a way in which humans can rethink their relationship with the Earth system in the light of principles and values that can provide a healthy and safe life in respect for geo-ecosystems. The theoretical framework of geoethics has now consolidated, and it has become the proposal on which to base a global ethics for the new millennium. This chapter outlines the scientific and cultural reference framework in which geoethics developed; the theoretical foundations of geoethics and its main characteristics; global anthropogenic issues under a geoethical perspective; ethical and social aspects related to two potential human activities respectively to combat global warming (geoengineering); and to provide for the growing demand for georesources (deep-sea/ocean mining). The authors highlight the importance of sharing values and actions among planetary human communities to manage global changes and threats. One wonders if the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can suggest or confirm reflections on geoethical thinking. Finally, a charter for a responsible course of human development, articulated in nine principles and actions, is proposed.

Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Applied to Geophysics

1993 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 133-144
Author(s):  
W. E. Carter ◽  
D. S. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Very Long Baseline Interferometry ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Tidal Forces ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Tide Gauge Measurements ◽  
Rotation Of The Earth ◽  
Global Reference Frame

Very-long-baseline Interferometry (VLBI) has opened for study a broad new spectrum of geophysical phenomena including: direct observation of the tectonic motions and deformations of the Earth's crustal plates, observations of unprecedented detail of the variations in the rotation of the Earth, and direct measurement of the elastic deformations of the Earth in response to tidal forces. These new measurements have placed significant constraints on models of the interior structure of the Earth; for example, measurements of the variations in the Earth's nutation have been shown to be particularly sensitive to the shape of the core-mantle boundary. The VLBI measurements will allow us to construct a global reference frame accurate at the centimeter level. Such a frame will be essential to studying long-term global changes, especially those changes related to sea-level variations as recorded by tide gauge measurements.

scholarly journals Ecosystems and Global Changes

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (s1) ◽  
pp. 70-79
Author(s):  
Viliam Novák
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Production ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Fossil Fuel Combustion ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Increasing Demand

Abstract Increasing population has led to the increasing demand for food, raw materials, and energy. Continuing land use changes, intensification of its exploitation, deforestation, fossil fuel combustion, and related carbon dioxide production have been contributing to change of water and energy balance of the globe, thus changing conditions for life. Other reasons for changing conditions on the Earth are natural changes in interactions between the Earth and outer space. Actual climate change is a part of other global changes resulting in both natural and anthropogenic changes. It is mostly felt as a change of global temperature and increase of precipitation intensities and totals. Flood periods are followed by long periods without precipitations. Increasing population as well as increasing consumption of resources lead to the increasing imbalance between our planet production and consumption. To preserve good conditions for population of the Earth, it is necessary to decrease consumption of energy, raw materials, and food to reach equilibrium between Earth´s ecosystem production and consumption of the ecosystem products.

scholarly journals How does the Earth system generate and maintain thermodynamic disequilibrium and what does it imply for the future of the planet?

2012 ◽  
Vol 370 (1962) ◽  
pp. 1012-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Kleidon
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Geochemical Composition ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Future

The Earth's chemical composition far from chemical equilibrium is unique in our Solar System, and this uniqueness has been attributed to the presence of widespread life on the planet. Here, I show how this notion can be quantified using non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Generating and maintaining disequilibrium in a thermodynamic variable requires the extraction of power from another thermodynamic gradient, and the second law of thermodynamics imposes fundamental limits on how much power can be extracted. With this approach and associated limits, I show that the ability of abiotic processes to generate geochemical free energy that can be used to transform the surface–atmosphere environment is strongly limited to less than 1 TW. Photosynthetic life generates more than 200 TW by performing photochemistry, thereby substantiating the notion that a geochemical composition far from equilibrium can be a sign for strong biotic activity. Present-day free energy consumption by human activity in the form of industrial activity and human appropriated net primary productivity is of the order of 50 TW and therefore constitutes a considerable term in the free energy budget of the planet. When aiming to predict the future of the planet, we first note that since global changes are closely related to this consumption of free energy, and the demands for free energy by human activity are anticipated to increase substantially in the future, the central question in the context of predicting future global change is then how human free energy demands can increase sustainably without negatively impacting the ability of the Earth system to generate free energy. This question could be evaluated with climate models, and the potential deficiencies in these models to adequately represent the thermodynamics of the Earth system are discussed. Then, I illustrate the implications of this thermodynamic perspective by discussing the forms of renewable energy and planetary engineering that would enhance the overall free energy generation and, thereby ‘empower’ the future of the planet.

scholarly journals Plant physiological ecology and the global changes

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Paulo Rodrigues Alves Delfino Barbosa ◽  
Serge Rambal ◽  
Angela Maria Soares ◽  
Florent Mouillot ◽  
Joana Messias Pereira Nogueira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Ecology ◽  
System Change ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Real Effects ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Plant Physiological Ecology ◽  
Biophysical Processes ◽  
And Function

The global changes are marked by alteration on the normal patterns of important biochemical and biophysical processes of the Earth. However, the real effects as well as the feedbacks of the global changes over vegetation are still unclear. Part of this uncertainty can be attributed to the inattention of stakeholders and scientists towards vegetation and its complex interrelations with the environment, which drive plant physiological processes in different space-time scales. Notwithstanding, some key subjects of the global changes could be better elucidated with a more plant physiological ecology approach. We discuss some issues related to this topic, going through some limitations of approaching vegetation as a static component of the biosphere as the other sub-systems of the Earth-system change. With this perspective, this review is an initial reflection towards the assessment of the role and place of vegetation structure and function in the global changes context. We reviewed the Earth-system and global changes terminology; attempted to illustrate key plant physiological ecology researches themes in the global changes context; consider approaching plants as complex systems in order to adequately quantify systems characteristics as sensibility, homeostasis, and vulnerability. Moreover, we propose insights that would allow vegetation studies and scaling procedures in the context of the Earth-system. We hope this review will assist researchers on their strategy to identify, understand and anticipate the potential effects of global changes over the most vulnerable vegetation processes from the leaf to the global levels.

scholarly journals Biogeography in the air: fungal diversity over land and oceans

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1125-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky ◽  
S. M. Burrows ◽  
Z. Xie ◽  
G. Engling ◽  
P. A. Solomon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Airborne Fungi ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Airborne Microorganisms ◽  
Geographic Patterns ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Biogenic Aerosols ◽  
Marine Air

Abstract. Biogenic aerosols are relevant for the Earth system, climate, and public health on local, regional, and global scales. Up to now, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography of airborne microorganisms. We present the first DNA-based analysis of airborne fungi on global scales, showing pronounced geographic patterns and boundaries. In particular we find that the ratio of species richness between Basidiomycota and Ascomycota is much higher in continental air than in marine air. This may be an important difference between the "blue ocean" and "green ocean" regimes in the formation of clouds and precipitation, for which fungal spores can act as nuclei. Our findings also suggest that air flow patterns and the global atmospheric circulation are important for the understanding of global changes in biodiversity.

scholarly journals Biogeography in the air: fungal diversity over land and oceans

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 7071-7096 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky ◽  
S. M. Burrows ◽  
Z. Xie ◽  
G. Engling ◽  
P. A. Solomon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Airborne Fungi ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Airborne Microorganisms ◽  
Geographic Patterns ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Biogenic Aerosols ◽  
Marine Air

Abstract. Biogenic aerosols are relevant for the Earth system, climate, and public health on local, regional, and global scales. Up to now, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography of airborne microorganisms. We present the first DNA-based analysis of airborne fungi on global scales, showing pronounced geographic patterns and boundaries. In particular we found that the ratio of species richness between Basidiomycota and Ascomycota is much higher in continental air than in marine air. This may be an important difference between the "blue ocean" and "green ocean" regimes in the formation of clouds and precipitation, for which fungal spores can act as nuclei. Our findings also suggest that air flow patterns and the global atmospheric circulation are important for the evolution of microbial ecology and for the understanding of global changes in biodiversity.

scholarly journals Natural Resources and Human Impact

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Leszek Starkel
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Rotational Movement ◽  
The Earth

Abstract It is rotational movement of the Earth that decides on the climatic zonation of natural resources, as modified by the positions of the continents and oceans and the irregular spread of fossil fuels. Intensive human activity poses threats to the development of natural geoecosystems. The last century also brought growing civilizational threats to the environment on the global, regional and local scales. The author characterise the prospects in regard to global changes, and discuss the solutions needing to be pursued if human geoecosystems are to be protected (through management and education).

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