The impact of the 1pN gravitoelectric mass monopole acceleration, both in the test particle and in the two-body system of finite, comparable masses cases, is calculated for different types of observation-related quantities (Keplerian orbital elements, anomalistic, draconitic, and sidereal orbital periods, two-body range and range rate, radial velocity curve and radial velocity semiamplitude of spectroscopic binaries, astrometric angles RA and dec., times of arrival of binary pulsars, characteristic timescales of transiting exoplanets). The results are applied to a test particle orbiting a primary, a Sun–Jupiter exoplanet system, and to a S star in Sgr A*.

Africa’s unique vulnerability to climate change has become entrenched as a central theme in international climate politics and has precipitated a transformation in climate policy on the continent from relative disorganisation to effective and unified cooperation in the span of barely 30 years. In the same period, Africa has also emerged as one of the fastest growing and most promising regions in the world economy. In light of these developments, and spurred by an international discourse of ‘energy transition’, a new wave of European foreign direct investment headlined by renewable energy has crested – with Africa in its sights. This contribution will explore the efficacy of such investments as a vehicle for ‘exporting’ European climate policy, and the extent to which these policy aims are compatible with similarly massive investments into Africa from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). By interrogating the focus of energy investments from Europe and the PRC, both in terms of stated aims and actual outcomes, it will posit that the success of Africa’s energy transition will depend in large part on the PRC’s sincerity about its domestic and international climate ambition.

Links between the Arctic and the Earth’s climate system generate several paradoxes. Despite the low level of anthropogenic emissions of GHGs from the Arctic, it plays a critical role in the dynamics of the Earth’s climate system. The principal drivers of climate change are non-Arctic, but climate change impacts show up sooner and more dramatically in the Arctic, making it ground zero in efforts to address the challenge of climate adaptation. Ironically, these changes have also increased the accessibility of the massive reserves of hydrocarbons located in the circumpolar north. The Arctic Council has sought to address these concerns by monitoring the course of climate change in the Arctic and bringing together representatives of major GHG emitters to consider options for addressing climate change, but the council is limited in terms of authority and resources; Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted its activities. The paradoxical links arising in this case are characteristic of complex systems more generally and highlight the importance of developing the ability to respond agilely when needs and opportunities to deal effectively with rapidly changing conditions arise.

Chapter 15 deals with the exciting first part of our planet, the time from which we have no actual rocks preserved. it summarizes our current understanding of how the planet first formed after formation of the solar system, how dust, stones, and gases collected into planetesimals that rapidly clustered to form planets. The importance of a molten planet Earth being hit by a Mars-size object is underscored, causing the formation of the Moon. In the following, Earth rapidly differentiated into a metallic core and a silicate mantle (magma ocean) that solidified from the bottom up in only a few million years. During solidification the magma ocean concentrated water into the shallow mantle, which set the stage for making the Earth’s oceans and generating a dynamic planet from its core to its surface. Emphasis is put on the information contained in Hadean zircon grains preserved in younger rocks, which has led some geologists to propose that the Hadean landscape resembled present-day Earth, with the presence of continents and oceans, and even the existence of some form of plate tectonics.

The manifold requirements for a world to sustain habitability on long timescales (continuous habitability) are delineated in this chapter. The first part offers a brief introduction to climate physics (e.g., greenhouse effect), and thereupon formulates the notion of the habitable zone, that is, the region where liquid water could exist on rocky planets orbiting stars; the boundaries of the habitable zone as a function of the stellar temperature are also presented. In the second part, the various stellar factors potentially involved in regulating planetary habitability are sketched: winds, flares and space weather, and electromagnetic radiation. The third part chronicles some planetary variables that may affect habitability: mass, plate tectonics, magnetic field, tidal locking, and atmospheric composition. The last part is devoted to examining the high-energy astrophysical processes that might impact habitability on galactic scales: candidates in this regard include supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and active supermassive black holes.

Climate change will intensify water scarcity, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The European Union’s Green Deal ‘new growth strategy’ promotes a policy agenda that underscores the need to support regions at risk while moving forward with adaptation and mitigation measures. In MENA, transboundary water use and dispute is intrinsic to the region, exacerbating environmental risks of desertification, rising temperatures and increased rainfall variability. Water management is central to effective climate and adaptation policy, as water access is a key determinant of socioeconomic stability and development. This stability is central to intergovernmental cooperation on climate initiatives and has undermined progress on this front in the region since the 1950s. The water sector is a core aspect of climate adaptation and mitigation, particularly as the hydrological cycle will be severely impacted by climate change. Therefore, effective water policy and resource management is the critical node of effective climate mitigation and adaptation in MENA.

Climate change is the most serious challenge of the Anthropocene, and so climate change communication needs to be taken suitably seriously, enriched with new ways of conceptualising, understanding and imaging the world and its transformations. The lack of understanding and seeing the gravity of the crisis has been increasingly identified as the ‘crisis of the imagination’. Over the centuries, telling stories was used to confront the unknown, encourage thinking about solutions, illuminate opportunities and give hope. Stories and storytelling allow space for interpretation and agency to think critically and, most importantly, act imaginatively. They encourage inter- and transdisciplinarity and thus novel perspectives, stressing the fact that, ultimately, discussions on climate change are discussions about who we are. In this sense, storytelling has a great potential to motivate individuals, communities and policy-makers to act on climate change.

An overview of General Relativity is provided to a basic level. Its different nature with respect to the Newtonian Universal Gravitation is outlined. A cursory resume of the post-Newtonian approximation and its importance in testing Einstein’s theory is offered. A brief overview on the modified models of gravity that appeared in the last decades is outlined. A plan of the book is provided.

Can ‘digitalisation’ (the process of running business through procedures that take place in digital format) contribute to the green transition? If so, to what extent? The European Union (EU) has recently embraced the idea of synergically combining climate policies and digitalisation, whereby the digital transformation becomes a key tool to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Arguably, while there are manifold advantages in improving, for instance, energy distribution via smart grids, digitalisation also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore necessary to strike the right balance and understand how to best harness digitalisation to implement the green transition. Notably, it is essential that the EU monitor the impact of digitalisation on the overall energy demand to avoid an excessive increase in energy consumption. Arguably, the EU can profitably couple a holistic embracement of digitalisation as the panacea to climate challenges with a ‘learn-by-doing’ approach, setting a variety of real-world experiments across supply chains to test the viability of its digital policy, in close collaboration with stakeholders.

Chapter 2 provides a review of the fundamentals of Earth Science needed to understand the plate tectonic model. It provides an overview of the different kinds of forces involved in geoscience and continues on to stress, deformation and strain rate. The chapter explores the global stress pattern of the uppermost crust, shows how such information is retrieved, and discusses how it relates to the plate tectonic model. In this context, deformation structures such as faults, fabrics, folds and shear zones are briefly reviewed. Rheology, which relates to how the different parts of our planet react to stress, is also discussed. Further, simple models for rheological variations or profiles through the outer part of the planet are discussed, as such profiles strongly influence how lithospheric plates deform.