evidence: Earth’s interior and surface environments are profoundly influenced by our position in the Solar System and interaction with the Moon and other planets. The Moon stabilizes the orientation of Earth’s spin axis and promotes climate stability, in stark contrast to, for example, Mars. Gravitational interactions between Earth and other planets, particularly Jupiter, cause small variations in the eccentricity, obliquity, and precession of Earth. While small, these variations are likely partly responsible for ice ages. [...] Recognition that people are now one of the dominant forces shaping Earth’s surface has opened new areas in the study of recent (i.e., historical) environmental records and in forecasting the effects of future population growth and development on environmental systems and landscapes. There is growing societal recognition that the geomorphological impacts of human land use have shaped ancient societies and continue to do so today, from the role of marsh destruction in exacerbating hurricane impacts on coastal cities to the erosion of the soil in which food is grown.