This article examines the idea that managing the Earth’s complex systems and their dynamics is the next great challenge for the engineering profession. The effects that human engineering has on the environment, whether intentional or not, must be taken into account on a global scale
This article examines the idea that managing the Earth’s complex systems and their dynamics is the next great challenge for the engineering profession. The effects that human engineering has on the environment, whether intentional or not, must be taken into account on a global scale. Earth systems engineering is meant to do so by augmenting existing engineering disciplines by coupling the functionality of systems with the active management of the dynamics of fundamental natural and human systems. The article places the idea of earth system engineering into historical and global perspective.
When populations of harvestable fish start to decline, managers look for explanations of the changes throughout the Earth system. In this activity, the impact of global climate change on marine and Great Lakes fish is considered. First, decline in the striped bass population of the North Atlantic, noted in the Downeaster Alexa song by Billy Joel, is examined with spreadsheet analysis and on-line searches of National Marine Fisheries Service databases.
This resource provides an overview of the concept of global warming, which is thought to be due to man-made emissions of greenhouse gases