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Earth science for sustainability

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 587–588 (2012)Cite this article

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Human activities increasingly lead to climate change, overuse of water, hazards and the destruction of biodiversity — to name just a few. Earth scientists need to take on the challenge of serving society on these issues, in close collaboration with engineering, social sciences and the humanities.

In June 2012, 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit, delegates from countries around the world met again in Rio de Janeiro. They went for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or, in short, Rio +20. Two decades ago, three conventions on different aspects of the protection of the global environment — climate change1, biodiversity2 and desertification3 — had been signed. The 1992 Summit had raised hopes for decisive action. But implementation of the conventions proved difficult and fell short of the original goals.

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Figure 1: Towards sustainable development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Peter Schlosser is at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, PO Box 1000, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA,

    Peter Schlosser

  2. Stephanie Pfirman is at Barnard College and the Earth Institute, Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, PO Box 1000, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA,

    Stephanie Pfirman

Authors
  1. Peter Schlosser
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  2. Stephanie Pfirman
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Correspondence to Peter Schlosser or Stephanie Pfirman.

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Schlosser, P., Pfirman, S. Earth science for sustainability. Nature Geosci 5, 587–588 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1567

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