Our Ecosystem, Our Responsibility
 
Interaction is our function. Understanding Global Warming and our role as humans. Humans influencing the planet now more than ever, creating their own sphere, the anthroposphere. Proactive lifestyle will move us in the right direction, a direction toward sustainability, while giving us the hope of another life we are so fortunate to live.
 
The requirement for life on Earth to succeed is the function of interaction. In ecosystems ecology, all spheres are working together, interacting in there own way to sustain life on this planet. Ecosystems ecology encompasses all these spheres, each contributing in their own way for successful interactions. Botany, a discipline that involves living organisms, could in no shape be able to survive without the greenhouse effect. This effect is keeps the Earth at a warmer state. The fundamentals of chemistry can control life with a slight change in the elements of the atmosphere, which directly influence the greenhouse effect. As people witness today, our own sphere, the anthroposphere, is influencing the composition of the greenhouse effect; further exemplifying that humans have emitted an input of carbon far greater than the output. All these interactions in accordance with many more are playing a crucial role in our own ecosystem’s ecology.

In terms of geologic time scales, our existence is miniscule. Yet, we see a change in the mean global temperature, which directly correlates to our global impact, which is unlike any living thing ever known. Earth systems science aids our exploration through the individual systems of our planet by studying how they interact holistically. With that, questioning how these components will change through space and time. As a scientist in the Earth and Environmental Science (EES) field, these questions can pertain to everyday life. As a climatologist, questioning how temperature change will influence the ice melting and further sea level rise that will ultimately lead to an increase in both. Perhaps as a remediation analyst for Hurricane Katrina, this sea-level rise was a main influence in the damage caused on “The City below sea level”. All components play a part; our job as scientists in the EES field of study the components of the Earth system, answer how they will influence other aspects of the Earth, to predict, study, and analyze our planet.

As previously spoken, the anthroposphere is playing an ever-increasing role. We have been named “top of the food chain”. With this in mind we keep aware that within the past one hundred years, our population has raised greatly. Over-population has aided the carbon input and this is where the human, anthropogenic effects become too great. Overpopulation has placed an unprecedented force that is significantly compromising the Earth’s fixed resources. Practically all activities in life today require fuel and land use. In culmination with overpopulation, these three environmental issues are the most pressing problems our world faces. Undeniably there are other issues which play a part in the way our planet is responding to land use and overpopulation. Climate change and biodiversity are changing the way we have viewed Earth for all of our existence but it is the three issues stated prior that have ultimately lead to the loss of biodiversity and global warming.

Being a part of the anthroposphere, which is so greatly disrupting the planet, our obligation must be to compensate for our mismanagement all these years. Taking a proactive role may not provide an immediate result in the Earth’s system but rather will motivate others to be more aware of the consequences we, and the other interacting spheres will encounter if our present “mass-consumption” pattern does not change. Working with the Environmental Initiative at Lehigh gives the university an opportunity to see what direction we can move. As the Campus Sustainability Intern, making others aware of our Greenhouse Gas Inventory will spark questions and goals on how to make the campus meet the needs of future generations. We all have the opportunity, large or small, to make a contribution to the future because right now, we only have one world.

相互配合是我們的職責(zé)。了解全球變暖和我們?nèi)祟惖淖饔�。人類現(xiàn)在比以往任何時候?qū)Φ厍虻挠绊懥Χ几�大，他們�?chuàng)建了自己的領(lǐng)域——人類圈。積極的生活方式在給我們提供另一種生活希望（這是我們十分有幸生活的）的同時，還會指引我們向正確的方向前進——朝向可持續(xù)性發(fā)展。

對地球上的生命延續(xù)所提的要求就是相互配合之職責(zé)。在生態(tài)系統(tǒng)生態(tài)環(huán)境中，各個領(lǐng)域是相互關(guān)聯(lián)的，每個均以自己的方式相互作用，以維持這個星球上生命的延續(xù)。生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的生態(tài)環(huán)境包含所有這些領(lǐng)域，每個均以自己的方式為相互作用的成功貢獻了力量。如果沒有溫室效應(yīng)，植物學(xué)這門研究生物的學(xué)科是決不可能存在的。溫室效應(yīng)使地球處于一個更暖的狀態(tài)。只要大氣成分發(fā)生一點微小的變化，化學(xué)的基本原理就能控制生命，從而直接影響溫室效應(yīng)。正如今天人們所看到的，我們自己的領(lǐng)域——人類圈 ，正在影響溫室效應(yīng)的組成成分；進一步表明人類已經(jīng)排放的碳輸入量遠遠大于產(chǎn)出量。所有這些相互作用和其它許多因素正在我們自己的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)生態(tài)環(huán)境中發(fā)揮著至關(guān)重要的作用。

就地質(zhì)時間表而言，我們的存在（時間）是短暫的。然而，我們卻看到全球平均溫度發(fā)生了變化。全球平均溫度的變化直接與我們的全球性影響相關(guān)聯(lián)，這與我們已知的任何生物都不同。地球系統(tǒng)科學(xué)通過研究我們這個星球上的各個個體系統(tǒng)如何全面相互作用幫助我們進行探索。于是，探究這些成分將如何隨著空間和時間發(fā)生變化。作為一個地球與環(huán)境科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的科學(xué)家（EES），這些問題與日常生活息息相關(guān)。作為一個氣候?qū)W家，探究溫度變化將如何影響冰雪融化和海平面進一步上升，因為溫度變化將最終導(dǎo)致二者的增加�；蛟S作為卡特里娜颶風(fēng)的一個補救分析師，海平面上升是造成“海平面以下之城”這一巨大損失的罪魁禍首。所有成分都發(fā)揮了作用；我們作為地球與環(huán)境科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的科學(xué)家的工作就是研究地球系統(tǒng)的所有成分，對它們將如何影響地球的方方面面作出回答，以預(yù)測、研究和分析我們的地球。

正如前面所述，人類圈正在發(fā)揮著一個越來越重要的作用。我們已被命名為“食物鏈的最高統(tǒng)治者”。 考慮到這一點，我們不斷意識到，在過去的一百年間，我們的人口增長過多。人口過剩已經(jīng)對碳輸入量的增加起到了助推作用，這正是人類，人為影響變得如此重要的原因。人口過剩已經(jīng)成為了一個空前的力量，它正極大地危害著地球的固定資源。如今，幾乎生活中的一切活動都需要使用燃料和土地。人口過剩的最終結(jié)果就是，這3個環(huán)境問題成為我們的世界所面臨的最緊迫的問題。無可否認，其它問題也在我們的星球應(yīng)對土地使用和人口過剩的方式中發(fā)揮著作用。氣候變化和生物多樣性正在改變我們?yōu)樽约旱乃�有存在看待地球的方式，但是正是上面陳述�?個問題最終導(dǎo)致生物多樣性的喪失和全球變暖。

人類圈正極大地破壞著地球，作為人類圈的一個組成部分，我們有義務(wù)必須為所有這些年的管理不善作出補償。積極主動的角色可能不會在地球系統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生一個直接的結(jié)果，但如果我們不改變當前的“大量消費”模式，它至少可以促使其他人更加意識到我們以及其它相互作用的領(lǐng)域?qū)⒚鎸Φ暮蠊�。哈伊大學(xué)的環(huán)境倡議工作為該大學(xué)提供了一個見證我們將何去何從的良機。作為可持續(xù)發(fā)展的校園實習(xí)生，讓別人知道我們的溫室氣體清單，將引發(fā)人們對該大學(xué)將如何滿足子孫后代的需要產(chǎn)生質(zhì)疑并為其提出目標。我們每個人，無論大小，都有機會為未來作出貢獻，因為現(xiàn)在，我們只有一個地球。

 我們不改變當前的“大量消費”模式，它至少可以促使其他人更加意識到我們以及其它相互作用的領(lǐng)域?qū)⒚鎸Φ暮蠊�。哈伊大學(xué)的環(huán)境倡議工作為該大學(xué)提供了一個見證我們將何去何從的良機。作為可持續(xù)發(fā)展的校園實習(xí)生，讓別人知道我們的溫室氣體清單，將引發(fā)人們對該大學(xué)將如何滿足子孫后代的需要產(chǎn)生質(zhì)疑并為其提出目標。我們每個人，無論大小，都有機會為未來作出貢獻，因為現(xiàn)在，我們只有一個地球。