WEBVTT FILE 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!