What is the most important part of our planet, the main reason Earth is different from all the

other planets in the solar system? If 10 different environmental scientists were asked this
question, they would probably give 10 different answers. Each scientist might start with their
favorite topic, from plate tectonics to rainforests and beyond. Eventually, however, their
collective description would probably touch on all the major features and systems of our home
planet. It turns out that no single feature is more significant than the others—each one plays a
vital role in the function and sustainability of Earth’s system.

There are five main systems, or spheres, on Earth. The first system, the geosphere, consists of
the interior and surface of Earth, both of which are made up of rocks. The limited part of the
planet that can support living things comprises the second system; these regions are referred to
as the biosphere. In the third system are the areas of Earth that are covered with enormous
amounts of water, called the hydrosphere. The atmosphere is the fourth system, and it is an
envelope of gas that keeps the planet warm and provides oxygen for breathing and carbon
dioxide for photosynthesis. Finally, there is the fifth system, which contains huge quantities of
ice at the poles and elsewhere, constituting the cryosphere. All five of these enormous and
complex systems interact with one another to maintain the Earth as we know it.

When observed from space, one of Earth’s most obvious features is its abundant water.
Although liquid water is present around the globe, most of the water on Earth, a whopping 96.5
percent, is saline (salty) and is not water humans, and most other animals, can drink without
processing. All the liquid water on Earth, both fresh and salt, makes up the hydrosphere, but it is
also part of other spheres. For instance, water vapor in the atmosphere is also considered to be
part of the hydrosphere. Ice, being frozen water, is part of the hydrosphere, but it is given its
own name, the cryosphere. Rivers and lakes may appear to be more common than are glaciers
and icebergs, but around three-quarters of all the fresh water on Earth is locked up in the
cryosphere.

Not only do the Earth systems overlap, but they are also interconnected; what affects one can
affect another. When a parcel of air in the atmosphere becomes saturated with
water, precipitation, such as rain or snow, can fall to Earth’s surface. That precipitation connects
the hydrosphere with the geosphere by promoting erosion and weathering, surface processes
that slowly break down large rocks into smaller ones. Over time, erosion and weathering change
large pieces of rocks—or even mountains—into sediments, like sand or mud. The cryosphere
can also be involved in erosion, as large glaciers scour bits of rock from the bedrock beneath
them. The geosphere includes all the rocks that make up Earth, from the partially melted rock
under the crust, to ancient, towering mountains, to grains of sand on a beach.

Both the geosphere and hydrosphere provide the habitat for the biosphere, a global ecosystem
that encompasses all the living things on Earth. The biosphere refers to the relatively small part
of Earth’s environment in which living things can survive. It contains a wide range of organisms,
including fungi, plants, and animals, that live together as a community. Biologists and ecologists
refer to this variety of life as biodiversity. All the living things in an environment are called its
biotic factors. The biosphere also includes abiotic factors, the nonliving things that organisms
require to survive, such as water, air, and light.

The atmosphere—a mix of gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen along with less abundant gases
like water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, and argon—is also essential to life in the biosphere.
Atmospheric gases work together to keep the global temperatures within livable limits, shield the
surface of Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun, and allow living things to thrive.

All of Earth’s systems are deeply intertwined, but sometimes this connection can lead to
harmful, yet unintended, consequences. One specific example of interaction between all the
spheres is human fossil fuel consumption. Deposits of these fuels formed millions of years ago,
when plants and animals—all part of the biosphere—died and decayed. At that point, there
remains were compressed within Earth to form coal, oil, and natural gas, thus becoming part of
the geosphere. Now, humans—members of the biosphere—burn these materials as fuel to
release the energy they contain. The combustion byproducts, such as carbon dioxide, end up in
the atmosphere. There, they contribute to global warming, changing, and stressing the
cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

The many interactions between Earth’s systems are complex, and they are happening
constantly, though their effects are not always obvious. There are some extremely dramatic
examples of Earth’s systems interacting, like volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, but there are also
slow, nearly undetectable changes that alter ocean chemistry, the content of our atmosphere,
and the microbial biodiversity in soil. Each part this planet, from Earth’s inner core to the top of
the atmosphere, has a role in making Earth home to billions of lifeforms.