Things tend to get only a little bit bad before suddenly the whole system collapses. Network relationships connect all species on Earth.

Remove one or two species, and the network compensates as if nothing has happened. Remove enough, and an entire ecosystem dies.

Managing the interconnected Earth requires joint efforts across an extraordinary breadth of expertise. Scientists are good at innovating, businesses are good at pragmatism and delivering on time.

And global governance is required to create the appropriate environment for change wherever it is needed. Working together is essential if we are to implement real solutions in time.

We still lack the ability to see the critical zone in its entirety. We can not measure the flows of life-sustaining resources with enough confidence to know how best to protect them.

We have computer models of river flows, plant growth and soil processes, but we can not predict the behaviour of the system as a whole.

We need a map of all interactions that matter for sustaining life, including the flow of energy, nutrients and water in the landscape; competition between animals, plant and Humans for these resources.

Losses in the form of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere; the role of soil in recycling nutrients; and the feedbacks between life and the physical environment including climate regulation and environmental engineering.

With such a map, scientists, businesses and decision-makers from all backgrounds can navigate and talk together. Each can see how their contributions and needs fit with those of others as the picture evolves.