One of the benefits of studying the dynamics of Earth systems is that it leads to a better understanding of your environment -- how that environment came to be, how it is maintained, how it changes naturally, and how human activities can be affected by the environment. Ideally, this kind of appreciation and understanding of the Earth can be obtained in most introductory geology classes; what this new approach - the Earth System Science approach - adds is a new way of thinking that entails looking at phenomena as parts of a system and then trying to understand the connections within that system and its dynamics - how it changes over time. When you start thinking about the different parts of your surroundings, or the larger world as parts of a system, you are forced to consider things like the connections between the subject at hand and its surroundings. This way of thinking also encourages you to consider how the system will change in the future, how it has changed in the past, and how those changes affect the behavior of the system. One of the key features about this new way of thinking, a feature that I think is highly important, is that is motivates you to ask fundamental questions, questions that are directed towards understanding how systems work.

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