It is our great pleasure to present the inaugural issue of our newly launched scientific journal “Earth Systems and Environment,” the official journal of King Abdulaziz University, which has now become a reality with Springer Nature in Germany. Our main objective is to establish very high standards for the journal so as to support research and innovation in the greater Middle East region and to promote the exchange of scientific knowledge between local scientists in the region and the international community. Furthermore, the journal will broaden readers’ knowledge of the natural workings of Earth systems and how they react to complex environmental issues. In this context, original papers on theoretical, numerical, experimental, and practical aspects of Earth systems will be published to further our understanding of these natural workings and various linked processes and interactions that govern Earth systems’ responses to complex environmental problems, both naturally occurring and manmade.

“Earth Systems and Environment” was founded to address the growing need for such a journal among the region’s scientific community. As such, it will offer a productive and interactive platform for highlighting and discussing recently developed scientific methodologies and theories that seek to understand Earth systems on regional and global scales. Our sincere hope is that it will benefit all academics, scientists, practitioners, and technicians with an interest in Earth system sciences for environmental sustainability.

In addition, the journal will focus on publishing original high-quality research on Earth system sciences, addressing vital environmental issues including climate change and its impacts on the natural functions of Earth systems. To achieve this, an integrated approach linking multi-disciplinary shareholders from diverse backgrounds, in particular from the Earth and environmental sciences and engineering, will be established. This approach will allow the journal to explore a broad spectrum, ranging from the geosciences to the environmental sciences; from marine science to the atmosphere; from probabilistic, statistical, and stochastic aspects to mathematical solutions; from computational techniques to analytical methodologies; and from computational methods to formal logical, rational, and experimental explanations.

Accordingly, “Earth Systems and Environment” will publish original and innovative scientific research papers addressing a diverse range of topics in (1) global climate change, biogeochemical changes, and Earth’s atmosphere, (2) climate and Earth system modeling, climate predictability, and variability, (3) Earth system processes and disaster management, (4) Geographical Information System (GIS), remote sensing and Earth system dynamics, (5) environmental Earth sciences, environmental processes and systems, (6) soil, sustainable agriculture, and Earth systems, (7) the ocean in the Earth system, (8) geo- and natural hazards, (9) sustainable management of Earth’s renewable and non-renewable resources, (10) environmental pollution and effects on human health and ecosystems, (11) environmental impact, adaptation, and resilience on the Earth systems and society, and other related topics.

To meaningfully explore these topics, researchers in the environmental Earth science disciplines from the region and around the globe are invited to contribute their original research and review articles on significant scientific advances in the form of papers, technical notes, broad reports, case studies, reviews, brief communications, and discussion papers. This first issue of “Earth Systems and Environment” is just the beginning, and provides only a glimpse of the journal’s actual breadth. We are convinced that it will quickly grow to disseminate high-quality information on cutting-edge developments in the various research fields of Earth systems and environment, well into the future.