preprints.org > biology and life sciences > ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics > doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0557.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 27 July 2018 / Approved: 30 July 2018 / Online: 30 July 2018 (05:11:32 CEST)

A speculative argument is presented which suggests the possible existence of a global metasystem that would be characterized as an emerging from the interaction of the units that make up the planetary system. The metasystem´s units would be the different physical, chemical and biological processes occurring in the subsystems that form the metasystem: magnetosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. The revised global metasystem is broader than that considered in the Gaia theory or in Earth System Science, where the Earth's crust and upper atmosphere, i.e., the volume where the presence of life occurs, are considered as the limits of the system. The maintenance of the dynamic state of the global metasystem it is achieved by dissipating the free energy derived from the electromagnetic radiation of the Sun, the obtained from the Earth-Moon gravitational interaction and the energy resulting from the dynamics of the Earth core and mantle, which produces the magnetic field and much of tectonic activity. For the human species, the importance of a greater understanding of global metasystem is based on the fact that natural resources and the climate system are products of the subsystems of the global metasystem. It is possible therefore that human activities that modify the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, change the dynamics of global metasystem.

emergence; complex adaptive systems; ecosystems; biosphere; Gaia

Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

* All users must log in before leaving a comment