Mission to Planet Earth

Abstract

This paper stresses the idea that the terrestrial environment and the diverse forms of life that inhabit it constitute an integrated system of interacting components. No single part, oceans, atmosphere, or biota, can be understood adequately enough to anticipate its changes by treating it in isolation. No geographic segment can be analyzed as an isolated entity. In addition it discusses the formation of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) which was formed to illuminate this intimate linkage between the physical sciences and the life sciences. 29 references, 5 figures.