Impacts to the Earth System

Learn how changes to land, water, air, and ecosystems due to natural and human-based causes can impact our Earth system.

4-Mile Fire

Fast Fires: A Compelling Way to Understand Wildfires

Studying the speed of a fire adds an important dimension that can aid in managing and preventing fires in the future.

A computer model that simulates a fire indicating topography, wind direction and smoke emitting from a fire

Using Models to Predict Wildfire Risk

Researchers at NSF NCAR use models to help predict and understand wildfire behavior.

photo of drought-damaged soybeans and very dry, cracked soil in a field

Drought: When Water Is Scarce

Drought can occur anywhere in the world and harm people and ecosystems. Drought is becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change.

Snow on Mount Shasta, CA

Earth System Interactions: Changing Snow

The atmosphere is warming. What do we know about how that affects other parts of the Earth system, including the snow in the cryosphere and water availability in the hydrosphere?

map of the major biomes of the world

Earth's Changing Biomes

Earth's biomes change over long time periods as a result of natural cycles, but can change more abruptly due to human impacts. Earth's forest biomes in particular are changing, as a result of agriculture, outbreaks of tree-killing pests, and wildfires.

timeline showing Anthropocene as the most recent years of the Holocene geological epoch

Earth System and the Anthropocene

As Earth’s population increases, human impacts on all the parts of the Earth system also increase. What are these impacts to air, water, land, and life, and why do we refer to our present time as the Anthropocene?