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Finding interdisciplinary solutions to environmental problems using an integrated geospatial framework requires an understanding of the nature, scope, and complexity of environmental systems as they are complex and characterized by space-time dynamics. Understanding and analyzing the complexity associated with coupled physical-human systems can benefit from geographical perspectives as well as an Earth System Science (ESS) framework. Steffen et al. (2020) noted that the ESS framework offers a powerful tool for understanding how Earth operates as a ‘single, complex adaptive system’ and connects traditional disciplines—which typically examine components in isolation—to build a unified understanding of the Earth and the underlying processes, including the human dimension. Geography, as a discipline interested in the interactions of human and physical processes in the environment, offers the intellectual backdrop against which a geospatial analytical framework can be used to understand critical environmental problems of our time and find possible solutions. The use of a geospatial framework serves three purposes: (1) a descriptive function, capturing, preserving, and displaying (i.e geovisualization) of data and relations among data collected by different disciplines for a given space; (2) an analytic function, enabling analysis and understanding of the structure and interrelationships of data objects collected by different disciplines using their disciplinary tools; and (3) an inferential function, generating answers to questions related to coupled physical/natural/environmental, ecological and human systems. However, the importance of asking good questions cannot be overstated. How a question is conceptualized in the context of space-time dynamics and boundary conditions, as well as sphere–event interactions, allows us to refine the question and come up with a more nuanced answer. This chapter reviews core disciplinary concepts that can play a crucial role in finding geospatially integrated interdisciplinary solutions to complex environmental problems.

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Toward Analyzing and Understanding Complexity of Environmental Systems

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Barnali Dixon

摘要

Finding interdisciplinary solutions to environmental problems using an integrated geospatial framework requires an understanding of the nature, scope, and complexity of environmental systems as they are complex and characterized by space-time dynamics. Understanding and analyzing the complexity associated with coupled physical-human systems can benefit from geographical perspectives as well as an Earth System Science (ESS) framework. Steffen et al. (2020) noted that the ESS framework offers a powerful tool for understanding how Earth operates as a ‘single, complex adaptive system’ and connects traditional disciplines—which typically examine components in isolation—to build a unified understanding of the Earth and the underlying processes, including the human dimension. Geography, as a discipline interested in the interactions of human and physical processes in the environment, offers the intellectual backdrop against which a geospatial analytical framework can be used to understand critical environmental problems of our time and find possible solutions. The use of a geospatial framework serves three purposes: (1) a descriptive function, capturing, preserving, and displaying (i.e geovisualization) of data and relations among data collected by different disciplines for a given space; (2) an analytic function, enabling analysis and understanding of the structure and interrelationships of data objects collected by different disciplines using their disciplinary tools; and (3) an inferential function, generating answers to questions related to coupled physical/natural/environmental, ecological and human systems. However, the importance of asking good questions cannot be overstated. How a question is conceptualized in the context of space-time dynamics and boundary conditions, as well as sphere–event interactions, allows us to refine the question and come up with a more nuanced answer. This chapter reviews core disciplinary concepts that can play a crucial role in finding geospatially integrated interdisciplinary solutions to complex environmental problems.