Peter M. Vitousek, Ph.D. 



Chairperson 



Sherwood Chang, Ph.D. 



Mathew R. Schwaller, Ph.D. 



Staff Associate 



Biospherics Research 



Human activity in this century has enormously altered the nature of the Earth by 

 changing the landscape and the composition of the oceans and atmosphere. Our 

 perceptions of the changes have become more acute as we have developed the 

 technology to observe human environmental impacts and to document the history 

 of global change. The science of predicting future change, however, remains little 

 developed. The goals of NASA's Biospherics Research Program are to develop and 

 exploit measurement methods and to build quantitative models to predict biologi- 

 cal change and the biological consequences of chemical change on regional and 

 global scales. 



Issues and Findings 



It is not the purpose of this report to define a scientific rationale for biospherics 

 research, a topic covered in detail in numerous other publications, including 

 several identified in the references to this discussion (1,2,3,4). This document 

 focuses primarily on the logistics and policies needed for the Biospherics Research 

 Program to achieve its research goals and objectives. 



Scientific Issues 



The Biospherics Research Program is the element of NASA's Life Sciences Division 

 devoted to understanding the interaction of biological and global-scale chemical 

 and physical processes. It is a component of a developing international program of 

 studies concerning the Earth on regional and global scales. This program, 

 variously termed the "Mission to Planet Earth," "Global Change," or "International 

 Geosphere-Biosphere Programme" (IGBP), includes scientists from biological, 

 geological, physical, Earth, atmospheric, and marine sciences. It draws much of its 

 impetus from continued observations of human-caused changes in the atmosphere 

 and the realization that these changes may not be reversible for centuries. The 

 NASA Earth System Sciences Committee has described the rationale and some 

 of the major approaches of such an effort in Earth System Science: A Closer 

 Vhiv (NASA, 1987). It is also discussed in Dr. Sallv Rules report, Leadership and 

 America's Future in Space (NASA, 1987). 



At present, it is not clear whether NASA will commit its resources to an 



zed and urgent scientific study of the Earth. Regardless of NASA's decisions. 



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