Earth Systems Analysis for Sustainability

Overview

This is an excellent synthesis of the elements that make up the emerging field of Earth system science. Leading global change scientists have pushed the boundaries of conventional science programs, producing a highly readable, challenging, and in part provocative book about Earth in the Anthropocene. It ranges across time, space, and disciplines, from Earth's deep history to astrobiology. If we are to achieve sustainability at a global scale, many people— in science and policy— need to read and understand this book."

- Brian Walker, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Australia, and Program Director of The Resilience Alliance

William Clark, the Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development at the Belfer Center, is co-editor of the new book, Earth Systems Analysis for Sustainability, which has just been published by MIT Press (October 2004). The book lays out the scientific foundations for managing human development of the planet in a sustainable manner. It is built around a Dahlem conference that Clark helped organize on the topic last year.

Clark’s co-editors include Nobel Prize winner (in chemistry) Paul J. Crutzen, along with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the UK and Germany’s top multidisciplinary science institutes working on climate change policy, Martin Claussen, head of the Climate System Department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Hermann Held, who heads the Mitigation Options research group within the Department of Integrated Systems Analysis at the Potsdam Institute.