Overview

Humans have difficulty thinking at the global scale. Yet as we come to understand our planet as a single, interconnected, complex system and encounter compelling evidence of human impact on Earth's climate and biosphere, the need for a truly global effort is increasingly urgent. In this concise and accessible text, David P. Turner presents an overview of global environmental change and a synthesis of research and ideas from the rapidly evolving fields of earth system science and sustainability science that is suitable for anyone interested in humanity's current predicaments and what we can do about them. The Green Marble examines Earth's past, contemporary human disruption, and the prospects for global environmental governance. Turner emphasizes the functioning of the biosphere-the totality of life on Earth-including its influence on geologic history, its sensitivity to human impacts, and its possible role in ameliorating climate change. Relying on models of the earth system that synthesize vast amounts of monitoring information and recent research on biophysical processes, The Green Marble describes a range of scenarios for our planetary home, exploring the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and factors such as economic globalization. Turner juxtaposes cutting-edge ideas from both the geosciences and the social sciences to illustrate how humanity has arrived upon its current dangerous trajectory, and how we might pull back from the brink of civilization-challenging environmental change. Growing out of the author's popular course on global environmental change, The Green Marble is accessible to non-science majors and provides a framework for understanding the complex relationship of humanity to the global environment.

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9780231180603

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Reviews

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 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 no sphere 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

The Green Marble refers to the part of the Earth System that is all life in the land and oceans, the Biosphere. This book takes you on a journey around the Biosphere at all scales, from cellular details of photosynthesis to global biome distributions, and in time from 4 billion years ago as life began to thousands of years into the future with a changing climate. This overview is about right for an interdisciplinary course, giving the big picture of how the Biosphere operates in the Earth System, but sparing technical details. The first half of the book is a rather standard coverage of the natural science topics, energy, water and biogeochemical cycling. One chapter gives an easily understood overview of different types of global modeling, from climate models to comprehensive Earth systems models to Integrated Assessment models, and explains IPCC projections for the next ten thousand years. However, the second half of the book takes a new tack, addressing socioeconomic drivers of global environmental change, forces of globalization and the history of global change monitoring, governance and policy. The final three chapters offer ideas on integrating social and ecological systems and a new planetary paradigm for sustainability. 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 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, Columbia University

Author Information

David P. Turner is a research professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University.

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