To achieve goals for climate and economic growth, "negative emissions technologies" (NETs) that remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the air will need to play a significant role in mitigating climate change. Unlike carbon capture and storage technologies that remove carbon dioxide emissions directly from large point sources such as coal power plants, NETs remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or enhance natural carbon sinks. Storing the carbon dioxide from NETs has the same impact on the atmosphere and climate as simultaneously preventing an equal amount of carbon dioxide from being emitted. Recent analyses found that deploying NETs may be less expensive and less disruptive than reducing some emissions, such as a substantial portion of agricultural and land-use emissions and some transportation emissions. In 2015, the National Academies published Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration, which described and initially assessed NETs and sequestration technologies. This report acknowledged the relative paucity of research on NETs and recommended development of a research agenda that covers all aspects of NETs from fundamental science to full-scale deployment. To address this need, Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda assesses the benefits, risks, and "sustainable scale potential" for NETs and sequestration. This report also defines the essential components of a research and development program, including its estimated costs and potential impact.

The destructive force of earthquakes has stimulated human inquiry since ancient times, yet the scientific study of earthquakes is a surprisingly recent endeavor. Instrumental recordings of earthquakes were not made until the second half of the 19th century, and the primary mechanism for generating seismic waves was not identified until the beginning of the 20th century. From this recent start, a range of laboratory, field, and theoretical investigations have developed into a vigorous new discipline: the science of earthquakes. As a basic science, it provides a comprehensive understanding of earthquake behavior and related phenomena in the Earth and other terrestrial planets. As an applied science, it provides a knowledge base of great practical value for a global society whose infrastructure is built on the Earth's active crust. This book describes the growth and origins of earthquake science and identifies research and data collection efforts that will strengthen the scientific and social contributions of this exciting new discipline.

Volcanoes and eruptions are dramatic surface man telemetry and processing, and volcano-deformation ifestations of dynamic processes within the Earth, source models over the past three decades. There has mostly but not exclusively localized along the been a virtual explosion of volcano-geodesy studies boundaries of Earth's relentlessly shifting tectonic and in the modeling and interpretation of ground plates. Anyone who has witnessed volcanic activity deformation data. Nonetheless, other than selective, has to be impressed by the variety and complexity of brief summaries in journal articles and general visible eruptive phenomena. Equally complex, works on volcano-monitoring and hazards mitiga however, if not even more so, are the geophysical, tion (e. g. , UNESCO, 1972; Agnew, 1986; Scarpa geochemical, and hydrothermal processes that occur and Tilling, 1996), a modern, comprehensive treat underground - commonly undetectable by the ment of volcano geodesy and its applications was human senses - before, during, and after eruptions. non-existent, until now. Experience at volcanoes worldwide has shown that, In the mid-1990s, when Daniel Dzurisin (DZ to at volcanoes with adequate instrumental monitor friends and colleagues) was serving as the Scientist ing, nearly all eruptions are preceded and accom in-Charge of the USGS Cascades Volcano Observa panied by measurable changes in the physical and tory (CVO), I first learned of his dream to write a (or) chemical state of the volcanic system. While book on volcano geodesy.

This open access book offers a summary of the development of Digital Earth over the past twenty years. By reviewing the initial vision of Digital Earth, the evolution of that vision, the relevant key technologies, and the role of Digital Earth in helping people respond to global challenges, this publication reveals how and why Digital Earth is becoming vital for acquiring, processing, analysing and mining the rapidly growing volume of global data sets about the Earth. The main aspects of Digital Earth covered here include: Digital Earth platforms, remote sensing and navigation satellites, processing and visualizing geospatial information, geospatial information infrastructures, big data and cloud computing, transformation and zooming, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and social media. Moreover, the book covers in detail the multi-layered/multi-faceted roles of Digital Earth in response to sustainable development goals, climate changes, and mitigating disasters, the applications of Digital Earth (such as digital city and digital heritage), the citizen science in support of Digital Earth, the economic value of Digital Earth, and so on. This book also reviews the regional and national development of Digital Earth around the world, and discusses the role and effect of education and ethics. Lastly, it concludes with a summary of the challenges and forecasts the future trends of Digital Earth. By sharing case studies and a broad range of general and scientific insights into the science and technology of Digital Earth, this book offers an essential introduction for an ever-growing international audience.

This book presents the first compilation of scientific research on the island of Nisyros, involving various geoscientific disciplines. Presenting a wealth of illustrations and maps, including a geological map of the volcano, it also provides valuable insights into the geothermal potential of Greece. The island of Nisyros is a Quaternary volcano located at the easternmost end of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc. The island is nearly circular, with an average diameter of 8 km, and covers an area of approximately 42 km2. It lies above a base of Mesozoic limestone and a thin crust, with the mantle-crust transition located at a depth of approximately 27 km. The volcanic edifice of Nisyros comprises a succession of calc-alkaline lavas and pyroclastic rocks, as well as a summit caldera with an average diameter of 4 km. Nisyros marks the most recent volcano in the large prehistoric volcanic field between Kos-Yali-Strongyli-Pyrgousa-Pachia-Nisyros, where the largest eruption (“Kos Plateau Tuff”) in the history of the eastern Mediterranean devastated the Dodecanese islands 161,000 years ago. Although the last volcanic activity on Nisyros dates back at least 20,000 to 25,000 years, it encompasses an active hydrothermal system underneath the volcano with temperatures of roughly 100°C at the Lakki plain, the present-day caldera floor and 350°C at a depth of 1,550 m. A high level of seismic unrest, thermal waters and fumarolic gases bear testament to its continuous activity, which is due to a large volume of hot rocks and magma batches at greater depths, between 3,000 and 8,000 m. Violent hydrothermal eruptions accompanied by major earthquakes occurred in 1873 and 1888 and left behind large, “world-wide unique” explosion craters in the old caldera. Through diffuse soil degassing, the discharge of all hydrothermal craters in the Lakki plain releases 68 tons of hydrothermal-volcanic derived CO2 and 42 MW of thermal energy per day. This unique volcanic and hydrothermal environment is visited daily by hundreds of tourists.

Satellite remote sensing, in particular by radar altimetry, is a crucial technique for observations of the ocean surface and of many aspects of land surfaces, and of paramount importance for climate and environmental studies. This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of the satellite altimetry techniques and related missions, and reviews the most-up-to date applications to ocean dynamics and sea level. It also discusses related space-based observations of the ocean surface and of the marine geoid, as well as applications of satellite altimetry to the cryosphere and land surface waters; operational oceanography and its applications to navigation, fishing and defense.