Introduction. Progress in Earth science and climate studies

In this introductory paper, I review the ‘visions of the future’ articles prepared by top young scientists for the second of the two Christmas 2008 Triennial Issues of Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A , devoted respectively to astronomy and Earth science. Topics covered in the Earth science issue include: tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Main Author: Thompson, J. Michael T
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2008.0215
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.2008.0215
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsta.2008.0215
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Summary:In this introductory paper, I review the ‘visions of the future’ articles prepared by top young scientists for the second of the two Christmas 2008 Triennial Issues of Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A , devoted respectively to astronomy and Earth science. Topics covered in the Earth science issue include: trace gases in the atmosphere; dynamics of the Antarctic circumpolar current; a study of the boundary between the Earth's rocky mantle and its iron core; and two studies of volcanoes and their plumes. A final section devoted to ecology and climate covers: the mathematical modelling of plant–soil interactions; the effects of the boreal forests on the Earth's climate; the role of the past palaeoclimate in testing and calibrating today's numerical climate models; and the evaluation of these models including the quantification of their uncertainties.