Understanding Earth's dynamic systems

Understanding Earth’s dynamic systems Today’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency describes how satellites continue to help us understand Earth’s complex systems, such as how they interact and change.

One of the most important scientific quests today is to understand how human activities influence these systems.

ESA’s Earth Explorer satellite missions are consistently providing experts with unprecedented information that improves upon what we know about our dynamic planet. Understanding Earth’s dynamic systems can range in complexity, and Earth’s subsystems are all dynamic. Key to understanding the complexity of the Earth system is that manipulation in one part of a subsystem can cause effects in other parts of that subsystem and/or the other subsystems, sometimes in ways that are quite unexpected.

What is the Earth system? or interacting parts forming a collective whole or entity. On a macro level, the Earth system maintains its existence and functions as a whole through the interactions of its parts, called components. Each response to a change can trigger a string of interconnected responses, which makes the repercussions of any single change in this complex and dynamic Earth system difficult to predict. Water in the Earth system is influencing all aspects of life on Earth.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency