The Full Picture

Greenland’s glaciers have become steady downspouts. The melting

of ice sheets and glaciers raises sea level, which will eventually affect

low-lying coastal areas around the globe, and perhaps alter the flow

of major ocean currents.

To improve our knowledge of environmental change in the Arctic

and the understanding of its consequences, NSF is taking the lead

in helping to develop an Arctic Observing Network (AON). In

parallel with AON, NSF is contributing to POLENET, an interna-

tional observing effort for, as its title suggests, both the Arctic and

Antarctic. In Greenland, for example, the deployment of a network

of POLENET global positioning system sensors will allow scien-

tists to ‘weigh’ the continent’s ice sheet and detect changes in its

mass, changes that may well affect global sea level.

AON and POLENET are major US contributions to the

International Polar Year (IPY 2007-2009), the largest scientific

study to date of the Arctic and Antarctic. The project involves thou-

sands of scientists from more than 60 countries. It is the fourth

such polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8

(the International Geophysical Year). In the context of the sensi-

tivity of Earth’s poles to accelerating climate change, it’s also

perhaps the most important IPY so far.

Connecting it all: environmental observatories, data and people

The development of cyberinfrastructure (digital information and

communication capabilities), and continued research in computer

and information science, are integral to environmental observing

capabilities. The explosion of real-time data calls for near real-time

analysis and distribution if those data are to be most useful, espe-

cially in saving lives during hurricanes or earthquakes, or

predicting likely outbreaks of infectious diseases. How we manage

a constant flow of data is essential to the effectiveness of environ-

mental observatories.

“To maximize the benefit of these investments, the

development of extended observing systems must be

coordinated with research on environmental cyberinfra-

structure,” states the 2005 NSF report,

Complex

Environmental Systems: Pathways to the Future.

“Environmental cyberinfrastructure supports not only

integrated access to data flowing from these observing

systems, but also the wealth of environmental data held

in existing databases.”

The relevance of this information to the daily lives of

citizens underscores the importance of basic research.

Earth observatories offer unique opportunities to

improve education at all levels. They also engage the

public in an effort that is global and at the same time,

personal.

“Coupled with continuing improvements in micro-

processor speeds, converging advances in networking,

software, visualization, data systems, and collabora-

tion platforms are changing the way research and

education are accomplished,” states the 2007 NSF

report,

Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st Century

Discovery.

“Cyberinfrastructure-enhanced discovery

and learning is especially exciting because of the

opportunities it affords for broadened participation

and wider diversity among individual, geographical,

and institutional dimensions.” The NSF-supported

education projects with national and international

reach have now begun to take advantage of all these

possibilities.

FromManhattan to Bangladesh, sea-level rise will even-

tually affect everyone who lives along the world’s coasts.

Whether on a rice farm in Asia or a wheat farm in

America, climate change is already affecting the fields and

agriculture. In malaria-prone African countries, or out of

Africa where climate is warming and malaria-carrying

mosquitoes may now take up residence, new infectious

diseases are on the way.

We are at a critical point in understanding the relation-

ship between human systems and the rest of Earth’s

systems. The global population is now more than six

billion people. In the next hundred years, that number

may reach ten billion.

In the 21st century, we will make the choices that affect

the most basic relationships between humans and the

planet on which we live. How will we accommodate our

needs, while maintaining the functions of the natural

systems on which the future of the globe, and with it our

existence, depend?

The challenge will be met, in large part, through basic

research: By developing an understanding of the inter-

play of Earth’s complex systems and how people function

in and perceive the world they inhabit. This information

will be used to predict what will happen in the years and

decades ahead. In order to adapt to a changing world, and

to mitigate changes that are already occurring, such

knowledge is critical.

Solutions will come through the use of many eyes in the

sky and ears on the ground: the network of networks of

research environmental observing systems.

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The Ocean Observatories Initiative

NSF’s OOI will gather continuous observations from near-shore and

remote areas of the seas

Source: Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Ocean Observatories Initiative

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