Introduction

Abstract

During the past two decades, several problems in marine geoscience have emerged which require a multidisciplinary approach. Examples include the carbon dioxide problem, the atmospheric ozone hole that seasonally appears over the Antarctic continent, climatic teleconnections based on phenomena such as El Nino, and acid rain. Each of these issues must be addressed by treating the earth as an integrated system. The components of this system include the dynamics of the biosphere, lithosphère, atmosphere, and ocean, and the mutual interactions between each of these components. Because these issues have far-reaching impacts on industries and societies, whether they are national or multi-national, legal questions are inevitably raised as, for example, how to compensate nations that are affected by problems that are caused by others. The ultimate solutions to environmental problems require multi-national efforts, cross-coordination, and integrated sampling of the environment; the scientific issues involved with sampling serve as the basis towards understanding the earth as a system and formulating policies to protect future societies.