The world is undergoing more abrupt change in the last millennia than it has in the last million years. Intensifying ocean acidification is destroying marine ecosystems worldwide. Extreme precipitation events and groundwater extractions are impacting water supplies, while forest fires increasingly threaten communities across the West. Global mean temperatures are changing, negatively affecting the stability of centuries-old agricultural systems. Around the world, AGU scientists are working to understand a myriad of local, regional and global phenomena with a shared goal: to seek knowledge for the advancement of people and planet. Science is for the people, by the people, and yet scientists are often viewed as irrelevant and disconnected from society. We do science because we care, and we need to communicate it as active members of society. Engage with AGU scientists as they share why they study the Earth and Space, for a second year in a row.