The earth system

The total earth system consists of the geosphere and the biosphere. The geosphere is conventionally defined as the lithosphere (rocks), the hydrosphere (oceans, rivers, and lakes), and the atmosphere, together with the pedosphere (soils) and the cryosphere (ice). It constitutes the substrate for the biosphere, which is the earth's integrated life support system.

On the other hand, the biosphere can also be subdivided into terrestrial and marine subsystems, with living organisms further subdivided into animal and vegetable species (plus bacteria). The animal world consists of humans, other mammals, birds, fish, insects, and a number of other orders, phyla, and families. The human section (which dominates the rest) is sometimes called the anthroposystem (Husar 1993). This can be further broken down into the sociosphere and the "technosphere." The latter, in particular, influences the other different natural systems of the geosphere, and is in turn influenced by them.

The human impact on the other components of the earth system has now reached a level comparable to - and in some respects greater than - that of natural processes. Anthropogenic activities include the extraction of raw materials, their physical and chemical separation and refining, as well as their conversion and distribution. Manufacturing represents only a small fraction of these activities. Indeed, from some environmental standpoints it is not necessarily the most important. Extractive industries, including agriculture and forestry, and also "final" consumption (including personal transportation) often generate more harmful waste materials and residues than cutting, or shaping, or forming, or assembly. In spite of the adoption of waste-minimization policies, the continued use of new "virgin" materials and fossil fuels still imposes a heavy burden on the biophysical environment. This can be overcome only in time by more appropriate research and development strategies, including information systems that facilitate the optimization of the exchanges between industry and nature (Ayres et al. 1992). An interesting and different approach is offered by the concept of "landscape ecology." This has developed out of a kind of merger between traditional geography and ecology. A "landscape" is, by definition, a kind of shorthand for the complex spatial interaction patterns of natural and human systems. Widespread landscape transformations have now become a pressing global problem. There are no landscapes, except perhaps in Antarctica, free from human influence. The industrial type of landscape in particular reflects a very high level of technological and environmental interference by humans.