1 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:04,080 [Music] 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,150 Behold the Earth, 3 00:00:08,150 --> 00:00:12,170 teaming with life, 4 00:00:12,170 --> 00:00:16,220 ideally suited for the development of human civilization. 5 00:00:16,220 --> 00:00:20,290 It's no wonder that previous generations 6 00:00:20,290 --> 00:00:24,320 held the fundamental belief that the 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,370 that the resources of the world were unlimited, 8 00:00:28,370 --> 00:00:32,390 that our planet with this ideal environment for life 9 00:00:32,390 --> 00:00:36,420 was provided for our benefit 10 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:40,460 and that we bear no responsibility for ensuring 11 00:00:40,460 --> 00:00:44,530 that the Earth remains fertile for the development of 12 00:00:44,530 --> 00:00:48,550 our civilization. But as our population has 13 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:52,580 grown, our appetite for energy has 14 00:00:52,580 --> 00:00:56,720 increased and in some cases we have misused 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,900 our land. We can no longer assume 16 00:01:00,900 --> 00:01:04,990 that the Earth will remain eternally ideal 17 00:01:04,990 --> 00:01:09,020 for the advancement of our civilization 18 00:01:09,020 --> 00:01:13,070 or the quality of our life. 19 00:01:13,070 --> 00:01:17,160 Rather we will forevermore 20 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,190 be called upon to heed that biblical admonition, 21 00:01:21,190 --> 00:01:25,250 we need to be wise stewards of creation. 22 00:01:25,250 --> 00:01:29,420 But how do we know what to do? 23 00:01:29,420 --> 00:01:33,430 How does the Earth really work? 24 00:01:33,430 --> 00:01:37,530 How could humans influence our climate or sea levels 25 00:01:37,530 --> 00:01:41,550 or any other aspect of the habitability of our planet? 26 00:01:41,550 --> 00:01:45,630 Fortunately, 27 00:01:45,630 --> 00:01:49,660 as our technological civilization has grown to where humans 28 00:01:49,660 --> 00:01:53,700 can affect the Earth, we have also been provided 29 00:01:53,700 --> 00:01:57,730 with the tools to study the Earth 30 00:01:57,730 --> 00:02:01,820 and understand it, predict its future and determine the 31 00:02:01,820 --> 00:02:05,840 actions that will be most effective to 32 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,900 protect our future for generations to come. 33 00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:13,930 In the early 1980s, 34 00:02:13,930 --> 00:02:17,950 we've been studying 35 00:02:17,950 --> 00:02:22,010 the individual components of the Earth; the atmosphere 36 00:02:22,010 --> 00:02:26,030 through meteorology and atmospheric chemistry, the oceans 37 00:02:26,030 --> 00:02:30,060 through oceanography, the land and its biology through ecology, 38 00:02:30,060 --> 00:02:34,120 but the Earth is more complicated than that. 39 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,270 The atmosphere, the oceans, 40 00:02:38,270 --> 00:02:42,310 the biosphere, the cryosphere are all coupled with 41 00:02:42,310 --> 00:02:46,360 complicated feedback mechanisms, governing their interactions. 42 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,440 The Earth is not simply 43 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,460 individual components. It is an integrated system 44 00:02:54,460 --> 00:02:58,510 that we need to understand is a system, if 45 00:02:58,510 --> 00:03:02,600 we are to predict the future of the Earth. 46 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,640 In the late 1980s, 47 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:10,670 NASA embraced the concept 48 00:03:10,670 --> 00:03:14,740 of Earth system science by bringing to bear 49 00:03:14,740 --> 00:03:18,840 the most important resource for studying the earth as a system, 50 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,880 the global perspective of Earth that 51 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,950 is provided by orbiting spacecraft. 52 00:03:26,950 --> 00:03:31,030 NASA undertook one of its most important 53 00:03:31,030 --> 00:03:35,050 programs, the Mission to the Planet Earth and the Earth 54 00:03:35,050 --> 00:03:39,070 observing system with the Terra and the Aqua and the Aura 55 00:03:39,070 --> 00:03:43,130 satellites as the principal observatories for studying the Earth 56 00:03:43,130 --> 00:03:47,150 as a system. Many satellites 57 00:03:47,150 --> 00:03:51,220 have been added to this fleet of satellites 58 00:03:51,220 --> 00:03:55,360 observing the Earth and these satellites are and will continue 59 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,380 to provide comprehensive observations 60 00:03:59,380 --> 00:04:03,440 from which we can understand the earth and develop the models 61 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,490 that allow us to predict our future. In tonight's 62 00:04:07,490 --> 00:04:11,580 program, we are going to celebrate what we have learned 63 00:04:11,580 --> 00:04:15,610 about the key components of the Earth systems since we embarked 64 00:04:15,610 --> 00:04:19,660 upon Mission to Planet Earth some three decades ago. 65 00:04:19,660 --> 00:04:23,750 But as we celebrate, all that we 66 00:04:23,750 --> 00:04:27,770 have learned, we need to be aware 67 00:04:27,770 --> 00:04:31,800 that we are in a race against time. The Earth 68 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,910 is changing. Human civilization is influencing the Earth. 69 00:04:35,910 --> 00:04:39,940 We need the best possible scientific 70 00:04:39,940 --> 00:04:44,020 understanding of all the factors that will influence the future of the planet 71 00:04:44,020 --> 00:04:48,160 so that we can make wise policy decisions 72 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,210 to protect and to preserve this planet 73 00:04:52,210 --> 00:04:56,290 on which our civilization depends and if need be 74 00:04:56,290 --> 00:05:00,300 adapt to the changes that will come. 75 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:04,360 We need to become and forevermore remain 76 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,460 wise stewards of creation. 77 00:05:08,460 --> 00:05:12,480 We begin this evening with Gail Jackson; 78 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,650 who will discuss the water cycle that is 79 00:05:16,650 --> 00:05:20,690 essential for life. Then Lola Fatoyinbo 80 00:05:20,690 --> 00:05:24,870 will talk about the carbon cycle which is driven by 81 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:29,050 many events including changing forest covers 82 00:05:29,050 --> 00:05:33,080 and Thorsten Markus will examine the key 83 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:37,100 ice sheets of the Antarctic and Arctic and their role in sea level 84 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:41,150 rise and finally Piers Sellers will 85 00:05:41,150 --> 00:05:45,240 wrap up with all the tasks that still lie before us. 86 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,327 Gail!