Earth System Science (ESS) Vision and Mission

ESS-Track I: Earth System Science

The mission of ESS Track I is scientific understanding of the Earth system in relationship with its interlinking and interacting spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, cryosphere, and anthroposphere), how the Earth system is functioning, its resources and processes by which it changes in space and time, and how these changes influence life on Earth. This track also focuses on the observation systems on weather, climate change, and natural hazards. The Track mission includes advancement of scientific understanding of the factors that affect cycling of elements, climate and environmental changes, weather patterns, their impacts on regional environments and natural ecosystems by using current and/or historical data sets and paleoclimatic records to provide baseline information for future trends.

ESS-TRACK II : The Earth System Modeling

The mission of Earth System Modeling (ESM) Track is to introduce coupled climate and Earth system models for climate change projections on time scales from short to long term and spatial scales from regional to global. The ESM track focuses on the incorporation of physical representations in specific model components of atmosphere, ocean, land, sea-ice and ice-sheet, as well as coupling mechanisms. Employing ESM to perform climate model integration experiments aimed at understanding internal and forced changes in the climate system, including anthropogenic impacts on climate, exploring fundamental processes to investigate the behavior of the climate system, and examining the role of the hydrologic cycle in climate change, the relationship between climate variability and synoptic-scale dynamics, and the relationship between ocean biogeochemistry and climate change.

ESS-TRACK III: Energy, Environmental Economics and Policy

Realizing that environmental issues can no longer be considered as purely scientific and technical problems to be addressed within the limits of positive sciences but require a substantial examination from point of social science disciplines as well; the Track 3 of the ESS Graduate Program aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the social, economic and political implications of the human activities on various components of the Earth System so as to develop the necessary capacity in terms of analyzing interaction of the scientific domain with the social sphere. Towards this aim the role of governmental and non-governmental actors in translating common concerns into politics; the apparatus and processes throughout which preventive and protective measures are developed and put into practice; principles such as, sustainable development, guiding the practitioners throughout the application process; the responsiveness and effectiveness of the measures are intended to be examined in this track.