“The driving forces behind major changes in the surface system usually lie beyond the surface.”Academician Wang Pinxian pointed out that the Earth's surface, as humanity's habitat, has long been the most closely watched sphere by geoscientists. In fact, the greatest driving force of changes in the Earth's surface system is not on the surface, but rather in extraterrestrial, deep Earth, and microscopic processes that are difficult to observe and thus often overlooked.

    Starting from the main drivers of several major transitions in geological history, he elaborated on three main storylines: the asteroid belt and interstellar dust in the solar system triggering mass extinctions and abrupt climate and environmental changes; the core-mantle boundary and mantle circulation shaping the distribution of continents and oceans in the crust; and microbial-driven chemical processes forging Earth's habitability.

    “We must break free from fixed thinking patterns and take a long-term view, transcending the temporal and spatial scales of human life and civilization, and consider the 'Upgraded Version of Earth System Science' from the essence of Earth's processes and the scale of Earth's evolution itself.”Academician Wang Pinxian said that the key to the “Upgraded Version” lies in broadening our horizons: we must step out of the human scale of the Earth's surface system, introduce sister disciplines to expand our temporal and spatial horizons, and shift from describing phenomena to exploring driving mechanisms, so as to truly establish a geoscientific theory that understands driving mechanisms and has predictive capabilities.

    “Today's report is pioneering and programmatic, but it was not achieved overnight; it is the result of years of continuous accumulation,” said Huang Enqing, a professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Science. The upgraded version, oriented toward “extraterrestrial, deep Earth, and life,” is exactly what Academician Wang has repeatedly reminded us: we should conduct research from a larger spatial and longer temporal perspective.

    “Mr. Wang encouraged us not to be satisfied with stamp collecting, but to be detectives of Earth science, which greatly inspired me,” said Li Jiaying, a doctoral student at the School of Ocean and Earth Science. She said she will persevere more firmly on the path of scientific research and strive to explore the deep mechanisms of deep-sea particulate organic carbon sinking.

    From July 2 to 5, the 8th Conference on Earth System Science was held in Shanghai, with 15 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering,over 2,000 experts, scholars, and young students participating. The conference, centered on ten major themes and72 special topics, arranged a total of799 oral presentations and733 poster presentations in the main venue and16 parallel sessions, featuring a splendid array of academic exchange activities.

    During the conference, the United Nations “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)” achievement release conference was held, focusing on China's “Ocean Decade” progress and the nine major scientific programs approved for China.

    The conference was jointly organized by the Expert Advisory Committee of the China Ocean Drilling Program (IODP-China), the Department of Earth Sciences of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology at Tongji University, and the International Science Program for Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions.