4 1 / 2023 // LEOPOLDINA / NEWS
Starting signal for future-oriented Earth System Science
Networking , funding , training : Debate on a new concept for geosciences
Transdisciplinary and digital work , institutional networking , new infrastructures for Big Data as well as university training on the concept of Earth systems – Earth System Science is looking for modern answers for an Earth in transition .
Image : metamorworks | AdobeStock
In order to counter climate change , the individual disciplines within the geosciences need to network more effectively across disciplines and institutions .
The Report on Tomorrow ’ s Science “ Earth System Science – Discovery , Diagnosis , and Solutions in Times of Global Change ”, published by the Leopoldina in summer 2022 , has given important impetus to this debate . At a symposium in Halle ( Saale )/ Germany in December 2022 the considerations of the expert community were defined in more detail .
The fact that the planet is struggling is no longer subject to much debate . Rapid solutions are needed to slow down climate change , protect ecosystems on land and in the seas , use natural resources sustainably and predict natural hazards . To prepare for these challenges , we need an Earth System Science which brings together the whole spectrum of geosciences – this is the key message of the Report on Tomorrow ’ s Science . What the expert community thinks of this new idea became clear at the Leopoldina symposium in Halle ( Saale )/ Germany in December 2022 .
“ It was a fantastic debate ”, concluded Onno Oncken ML , one of the writers of the Report on Tomorrow ’ s Science . “ It showed that not only is there a need for urgent action to increase the potential of geosciences , but also that there is a huge amount of interest in this ”, summarised the Visiting Professor at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences .
Susanne Crewell ML , Professor of Meteorology at the University of Cologne / Germany , also took part in the sympo-