2022 Essay Contest Finalist

Entry by Arijus Knasas

Earth Sciences play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which include areas such as climate change and ecosystems. Understanding how the atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere interact with each other will guide us (the anthroposphere) in knowing how and where we can make a positive impact on ecosystems and climate change.

A change in one sphere will affect and change the other spheres. For example, when air in the atmosphere becomes saturated with water, rain or snow can fall to the earth’s surface (geosphere) and cause erosion and weathering. On a larger scale, Tsunamis affect the biosphere and atmosphere by killing marine animals and making more water in the atmosphere.

The anthroposphere relies heavily on and greatly affects all spheres. The biosphere produces our food; the geosphere has the materials to build homes; the atmosphere keeps crops and helps provide food and the hydrosphere provides power to our homes and gives us water. We are even more aware of this today as we are seeing a shortage of energy in Europe and other countries. The Ukraine conflict is causing a significant backlash around the world. It shows how unprepared we were to go without energy from fossil fuels and natural gasses. It also shows how our conflicts affect other spheres, destroying and/or altering the biosphere and atmosphere. We now realize how important it is to focus on alternative renewable energy sources from other spheres like solar, wind, and hydroelectric.

Knowing how spheres interconnect help us understand the problems and the ripple effects they have on other spheres, something people would not think about without geoscience. We need to take advantage of the opportunities we get and make the earth a better place for generations to come or leave it scrappier like our ancestors did (without knowing.