Wiring the World: a History of the Earth System Concept in the US Earth Sciences, 1982-1989
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Wiring the World: A History of the Earth System Concept in the US Earth Sciences, 1982-1989 by Jenifer Patricia Barton A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology University of Toronto © Copyright by Jenifer Patricia Barton, 2020 Wiring the World: A History of the Earth System Concept in the US Earth Sciences, 1982-1989 Jenifer Patricia Barton Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology University of Toronto 2020 Abstract Earth scientists today tend to view the planet as an integrated system comprised of interconnected components in the air, land, water, and biota. Earth scientists overwhelmingly use one particular phrase to describe this understanding of the planet: the “Earth system.” How did it become possible to conceive of the Earth as a system? When did “Earth system” become a common phrase? What were the principal factors that led to the concept’s later entrenchment? This dissertation addresses these questions by examining the emergence of the “Earth system” concept among US scientists in the 1980s. While the “global” capacities afforded by post-World War II Earth observing satellites and computer modeling may have been necessary for the conception of the Earth as a system, this dissertation argues that they were not sufficient. There is an important sociological component to the history of the Earth system. The Earth system concept has bureaucratic origins that trace to the mid-1980s and the work of a small group of scientists, the Earth System Sciences Committee. This Committee— formed by NASA’s Advisory Council—developed and promoted a research program called “Earth system science” that would take the whole planet as an object of study. Earth system science failed to gain extensive contemporary support, but the committee’s phrase “Earth system” was widely adopted. I argue that the “Earth system” phrase became entrenched despite ii the failure of the larger project not because it was well defined but because it was vague. By the 1960s, scientists increasingly perceived satellites and global computer models as supporting the idea that the Earth had interconnected parts that required interdisciplinary study. There was, however, little agreement about how to express this imprecise idea. The phrase “Earth system” was vague enough to adequately fill this semantic void. It served as a boundary object between different scientific disciplines, with enough interpretive flexibility to be narrowly defined by specialists while at the same time being broad enough to facilitate interdisciplinary communication. Vagueness, not analytical precision, thus facilitated the early spread and widespread adoption of the Earth system concept and contributed to its later entrenchment in the Earth sciences. iii Acknowledgments I would first and foremost like to thank my supervisor—Chen-Pang Yeang—and my supervisory committee—Rebecca Woods, Edward Jones-Imhotep, and Matt Farish—for their support and advice. I owe a special thanks to Jay Foster for helping me work through many nebulous ideas and research threads. This project would have looked quite different if it were not for the help of Laura Hoff, NCAR's archivist. Her answer to a simple email query completely transformed the trajectory of this research. I also benefited significantly from the assistance of Steve Garber, Colin Fries, and Elizabeth Suckow at NASA's Historical Reference Collection. Thank you to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for awarding me the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. This project was also supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Friends of the Center for the History of Physics, American Institute of Physics. Greg Good was instrumental in securing this support. Greg Good, along with Jim Fleming and Ron Doel, provided invaluable intellectual help with this project. Thank you to the IHPST graduate community. The department went through some ups and downs over the years, but my fellow graduate students were a steadfast source of companionship, relief, humour, and advice. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support. This project would not have possible without them. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures vi List of Abbreviations vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Emerging Threads: US Earth Sciences from the 1960s to the 1980s 34 Chapter Two: The Life and Death of NASA's Global Habitability Initiative 90 Chapter Three: The Earth System Sciences Committee: Constructing a Research Program 128 Chapter Four: The Earth System Sciences Committee: Promoting a Research Program 206 Chapter Five: The Strength of Vagueness: The AGU and the Spread of the Earth System 278 Epilogue: Mostly Harmless 341 Bibliography 355 v List of Figures Figure 0.1 - Google ngram plotting the comparative usage of “Earth system” in Google’s English corpus of books, 1900-2000, p. 3. Figure 1.1 - The coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice-earth climatic system. (US Committee for GARP, Understanding Climatic Change, 1975), p. 79. Figure 2.1 - UNISPACE ‘82 stamp from the People’s Republic of China, 1982. (Reprinted with permission from PostBeeld), p. 121. Figure 3.1 - Earth system wiring diagram from the ESSC’s Closer View (1988), depicting Earth processes occurring on timescales of decades to centuries. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 137. Figure 3.2 - Earth system wiring diagram from the ESSC’s Closer View (1988), depicting Earth processes occurring on timescales of thousands to millions of years. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 191. Figure 4.1 - NAS International Geophysical Year poster (1958) depicting scientific activities in the world’s oceans. (Reprinted with permission from the National Academy of Sciences, courtesy of the National Academies Press, Washington, DC), p. 232. Figure 4.2 - NASA’s Oceanography from Space poster for “Phytoplankton Abundance” (1983) as designed by Payson Steven’s InterNetwork graphic design company. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 235. Figure 4.3 - The ESSC’s Earth system science logo found on its reports and other media products. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 240. Figure 4.4 - The “ESS Blue” serves as the background colour for all ESSC material, including its Closer View (1988) report. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 242. Figure 4.5 - The simplified Earth system wiring diagram, for timescales of decades to centuries, from the ESSC’s Overview (1986) report. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from NASA), p. 249. Figure 4.6 - The Earth system science poster designed for the ESSC’s press conference, June 26, 1986. (Design by InterNetwork, Inc | Payson R. Stevens; reprinted with permission from Payson Stevens), p. 265. vi List of Abbreviations AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AEC Atomic Energy Commission AGU American Geophysical Union AIP American Institute of Physics AMS American Meteorological Society AR6 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report CDR Carbon dioxide removal CESAS NAS’ Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space CES NAS’ Committee on Earth Sciences CFC Chlorofluorocarbon COPUOS United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane DOD Department of Defence DOE Department of Energy DST GARP Data Systems Test ECD Electron capture detector ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer ENSO El Niño-Southern Oscillation EOS Earth Observing System EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data and Information System ERBE Earth Radiation Budget Experiment ESA Ecological Society of America ESMWG Earth System Sciences Committee’s Earth Systems Modeling Working Group ESS Earth system Science ESSC Earth System Sciences Committee FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FGGE First GARP Global Experiment GARP Global Atmospheric Research Program GATE GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment GCM General Circulation Model GGR Greenhouse gas removal GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites GPO Government Printing Office GREM Geopotential Research Explorer Mission HRC NASA Historical Reference Collection IAU International Astronomical Union ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IGBP International Geosphere-Biosphere Program IGY International Geophysical Year INI InterNetwork Inc. IPCC International Panel on Climate Change ISLSCP International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory NAC NASA’s Advisory Council vii NAS National Academy of Sciences NASA National Aeronautic and Space Administration NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research NIEO New International Economic Order NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOSS National Oceanic Satellite System NRC National Research Council NSF National Science Foundation NWIO New World Information Order NWP Numerical Weather Prediction OIES UCAR Office for Interdisciplinary Earth Studies OMB Office of Management and Budget OSSA NASA Office of Space Science and Applications OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy OTA Office