{"id":35,"date":"2020-01-10T23:13:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T23:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/technosphere\/?p=35"},"modified":"2021-11-15T23:04:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T23:04:49","slug":"discovery-of-the-technosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/technosphere\/2020\/01\/10\/discovery-of-the-technosphere\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery of the Technosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earth\nSystem Science Discovery of the Technosphere<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January\n5, 2020\/David P. Turner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The field of Earth System Science is a relatively young\nand is still working out how best to characterize Earth\u2019s parts.  A key difficulty is with including the human\ndimension in a comprehensive description of the contemporary Earth system.  Earth scientists like to think in terms of\nthe Earthly spheres and their interactions, e.g. the geosphere, atmosphere,\nhydrosphere, and biosphere.  By way of\nits industrial might, the global human enterprise recently has begun to exert\nan influence on the Earth system that is the equivalent to one of these spheres\n\u2013 effectively we have become a \u201cgeologic force\u201d.  One proposal for characterizing this newly evolved\nglobal scale presence is to call it the \u201ctechnosphere\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To gain an appreciation for the meaning of\ntechnosphere, it helps to draw an analogy to the term biosphere.  We consider the biosphere to consist of all\nlife on Earth.  It lives on energy,\nmostly in the form of solar radiation that is converted to biomass by\nphotosynthesis, and it has a throughput or cycling of mass, mostly in the form\nof carbon and essential nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Earth system existed before the origin of life and\nthe evolution of the biosphere.  But once\nin place, the biosphere began exerting a strong influence on the chemistry of\nthe atmosphere and the ocean, as well as on the global climate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, the technosphere is a globe-girdling network\nof artifacts \u2212including all machines, buildings, and electronic devices \u2013 that\nlives on energy, mostly derived from fossil fuels, and has a throughput of mass\n(food, fiber, minerals).  The\ntechnosphere is growing rather irrepressibly, and like the biosphere before it,\nhas begun to alter the global climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a systems-oriented worldview, we try to\ndifferentiate parts and wholes, and to understand their relationship.  Generally, a part does not control the whole.  Thus, a critical feature of the technosphere\nis that humans are only a part of it, and correspondingly humanity cannot fully\ncontrol it.  The technosphere is said to\nhave agency, its own agenda.  It thrives\non ever greater flows of energy and mass, which is not surprising when you\nrealize that capitalism is its operating system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that Earth system science has \u201cdiscovered\u201d the\ntechnosphere, we can study its structure, properties, dynamics, and how it\ninteracts with the rest of the Earth system. \nAn awareness that we serve the technosphere as much as it serves us may\nhelp us redesign and rebuild it in a way that makes a human-occupied Earth\nsystem more sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommended Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earth’s ‘technosphere’ now weighs 30 trillion tons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zalasiewicz, J., et al. 2017. Scale and diversity of the physical technosphere: A geological perspective.<\/a> Anthropocene Review. 4:9-22. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Steffen , Katherine Richardson, Johan Rockstr\u00f6m, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Opha Pauline Dube, S\u00e9bastien Dutreuil, Timothy M. Lenton and Jane Lubchenco. 2020. The emergence and evolution of Earth System Science<\/a>. Nature Reviews, Earth and Environment, January 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haff, P. 2014. Humans and technology in the Anthropocene: Six rules<\/a>. Anthropocene Review. 1:126-136.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommended Video<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily world air traffic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recommended Audio\/Video<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruce Cockburn, If a Tree Falls <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earth System Science Discovery of the Technosphere January 5, 2020\/David P. 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